The Marauders and the Shaman's Fire
by Elvenson
Summary: Remus recalls the events of his life when the Marauders roamed and owned the halls of Hogwarts. In their fourth year at Hogwarts they are visited by strangers whose magic they have never seen before and Remus begins to feel the awkward pangs of young love
1. An Unexpected Visitor

_Hello all, to those who know of my writing know that I tend to write about the world Tolkien created, well now I thought that I would try my luck at the world of JK Rowling. The Premise and plot-line of this story spans generations, but is centralized in three major eras. The first (introduced in this chapter but written more about in the middle of the story) is the present day of Harry Potter most notably during the OoP, HBP, and DH. The second (written extensively in the beginning of this story as a very long flashback and series of stories told by characters) takes place at the time when Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail ruled the halls of Hogwarts. These flashbacks are my own musings as to the tiny gaps in history, such as what happened to Lupin when he lost all his friends and the Order disbanded and such stuff. Forgive me if my writing of accents isnt up to snuff but I shall try. And please feel free to comment and leave critiques when you are moved to do so. This is my first foray into the world of Potter, so please any help is appreciated._

* * *

The rain fell heavily on the little country home in Devon near Ottery St. Catchpole, yet it did not faze that lone occupant, nor did anything from this world ever seem to. The young girl sat before the small hearth, legs crossed and a cat nestled in her lap, providing some soft noise to deaden the silence; she sang, an unknown tune with unknown words as she twirled her dirty blonde hair with the new wand her father had bought her the day before. He was late again and dinner cold, but that happened often in the Lovegood house, dinner had always been promptly prepared at 7:00, the young girl made sure of that. In her free hand she twirled around a chocolate frog card letting the image of Morgan le Fey shimmer in the firelight. She would be attending Hogwarts in a few months, the place where her mother and father learned all their skills…she gleamed with joy at the prospect.

The cat meowed for hunger and the kettle whistled in the distance, the young girl got up from her seat and moved into the kitchen where a small stove gave off a warm red glow. The girl's eyes fell on a picture that sat framed just beside a wooden door opposite the stove, the picture wasn't a painting but a photograph of a woman sitting on a small stool holding a glimmering white child in her arms. She was dark and beautiful, her raven coloured hair cascaded down her long neck and was drapped above the child who played with it as though it were a toy. The woman blushed at some unknown compliment and looked down at her child and smiled, almost laughing, she mouthed a name then returned her gaze to the photographer. She wore a blue gown, trimmed in silver and bronze and on her neck she wore an ancient looking necklace that bore a small green jewel in its center, it hung like a wreath of roses that shimmered pearl in the moonlight. The young Luna waved at the portrait of her mother and took the kettle of the stove, she was walking back to her spot by the fireplace when there came a knock at the door.

"Finally!"

Luna said as she ran to the door, eager to greet the master of the house, yet as the girl reached the door the feline hissed and growled as though a dog lay behind the wooden frame. Luna pondered what this meant as Melena never hissed at anyone least of whom her own father, she placed her hand on the doorknob and felt a sudden warmth behind it, which wasn't normal on a cold rainy night like this. Before she even had thought of it, a voice came from behind the door, soft, deep and warm though it seemed detatched from anything that resembled a human,

"Luna, do not open the door!"

,it said in a firm and assertive tone. Obviously it wasn't her father, it lacked any accent or marker denoting it to the British Isles, though there was an accent there, noble, strong and yet mysteriously like a voice the young girl had heard before. As she was about to ask who it was the voice entered the room again,

"Your name is Luna correct, Luna Lovegood?"

"Y…yes it is."

"My name…isn't important Luna. But what is important is that you know the truth…about your mother, and her family."

"Who?"

"Your father said your mother was an only child and an orphan at that. Did he tell you that?"

"Yeh…"

Luna's mind swam with curiosity as she tried to pull the door open and see who had come in the rain and cold to talk about her mother, but the person on the other end held the door closed,

"I told you not to open the door Luna!"

She stood there silently and then summoning the courage up she said loudly,

"Who are you? My dad will be here any minute so you better get to explaining yourself!"

At first there was silence, then after a roll of thunder resounded in the air the voice spoke again, this time it sounded younger than it had been before, though it still was deeply melodic,

"Luna you may not know this but your mother was someone I knew very well, someone who connects us…we're family…Luna"

Renching the door open Luna looked out into the darkness of the world with the rain beating down before her. No one was behind it and as she looked out into the lawn a hand grabbed her from the shoulder. There was a loud cracking sound and when she turned around before her loomed the shadow of a tall man wearing circular glasses and whose simple haircut looked more disheveled than it had ever been. He loomed over her and with a furious yelp he yelled,

"What the devil are you doing leaving the door open, Melena ran out!"

She looked up into the simple eyes of her father and smiled wirly as Melena now damp and wet ran into the house and sought shelter beside the fireplace. Something that looked like paper dangled from her collar and on it was fading letters of runny ink. Scooping down toward the frightened cat the man with round rim glasses and a balding scalp took the paper from the collar and opened its folded contents. Upon the letter sized paper were written black raven letters seeming to run all over the paper. As Mr. Lovegood read what the letters began to spell with a life of their own, he turned a bright shade of pink and then darkened to a pure tomato red as the letter fell from his still hands and onto the floor. As Luna tried to scoop it up the rivers of black ink ran off the letter and formed a perfectly circular pool of black ink neatly on the hardwood floor, before evaporating into thin air.

"What did it say dad?"

She said as Mr. Lovegood steadily recovered himself and sat before the fire; after a long time of staring into the flames he looked over to his daughter's straw colored hair and smiled saying only,

"Nothing dear…an old friend…Shall we start dinner?"

The pair ate dinner in peace, while old Melena dried herself by the fireplace and the blank piece of paper glowed orange in the light given by the burning wood. Later, as the young girl slept in her room surrounded by clippings of vampire sightings, double horned Unicorns and the like, the simple, humble Mr. Lovegood looked at the blank piece of wet paper before throwing it into the fire watching it turn a bright blue and purple and as the flames parted to reveal a face framed in pitch black hair and a noble crooked nose. Mr. Lovegood steeled himself for the conversation that he had been dreading for the past few years. The voice that came out was cool and collected, yet it seemed worn, like it was weary and stretched, the face was young and handsome to a degree though his eyes showed a much older age as though it was a much older man staring back at him rather than the

"Hello Xeno…it's been a while hasn't it?"

"Why did you come here? Why couldn't you have left us well enough alone!"

"I have a right to see her Lovegood! She's family!"

"She's not your family!"

"Why haven't you told her… about…"

"Enough! I want you to leave us alone! I don't want her knowing about you or your mother's quest…not now! Not ever! Now leave us alone you…Dark Wizard!!!"

In a fit of rage Xenophiliua Lovegood thrust his glass of water into the flames and the blue fire disappeared and returned into the glowing red that it once was. Taking the small parcel of floo powder he had just bought the day before he took a pinch into his fingers and threw it into the fireplace. Into the flames he placed his head and called out a name he never thought he would say again…After a few minutes of fruitless search a voice of an old woman entered and the pursed lips and tightly wound bun of one Minerva McGonagall showed through the burgeoning flames. She wore a velvet green robe, roughly put on, and her eyes seemed weary though agitation was woven in them. Obviously she had been awoken from sleep and had not seen who had called out to her through her fireplace. Having seen the face of Lovegood, she wore shock and even greater agitation and briskly began to scold him of the hour of the night, yet seeing his face as white as a ghost and his eyes heavy with worry she stopped and said,

"Mr. Lovegood, whatever is the matter?"

"Professor, I'm sorry to bother you…but He's come to my house…I need to talk to Lupin…Do you know of any way to reach him?"

"Of…of course…hold on for a minute."

She turned away from the fire and walked to a desk that stood in the far corner of the lightly furnished home. Outside the weather was clear for that summer night, and the stars shone brilliantly in the window. A cat purred inceasently in the background amid the sounds of ruffled papers and clinking objects filled the air. Mr. Lovegood on his end looked behind him, making sure his daughter did not hear one word of what was going on. In the distance, mingled with rain, snores came from her room and he eased his mind and turned his attention back to the task at hand. By the time he put his head back into the fire Professor McGonagall had returned and knelt beside her fire with a small book in her hands.

"Now keep in mind…" she said, her voice in whisper though it needn't really be, " this address is far older than it ought to be, but I'm rather certain it will work. Can you leave tonight?"

"Yes, Luna is in safe hands…"

His gaze turned to his wand upon the kitchen table, and Melena looking at him with knowing eyes.

" Very good, look in 4372 Hecate's alley in Salem, flat 72. Be careful, the moon may not be full yet, but it will be in a week."

"I will be home before then. Thank you."

With a gentle nod, Minerva McGonagall turned away from the fire and grabbed her own floo powder, just as the fire in the Lovegood house began to die out. Mr. Lovegood got up from his knees and walked over to the kitchen table. Taking hold of his simple wand he pointed it toward gentle old Melena. He prayed that he remembered the words he thought he would never have to say again.

"_Anima casasente_!"

From his wand a blue, and dazzling streak of light emerged from his wand and bathed the cat in its starlight. The light faded and the cat looked at first unchanged, or unaffected by the spell. The humble looking Lovegood cursed himself for not remembering the correctly, that is until the eyes of gentle old Melena blazed with a silver light, and the house glowed with it. and then it faded. The spell had worked, and with a gentle sigh Mr. Lovegood went to his room and quickly prepared a small bag of his clothes and toiletries. Luna stirred in her bed and then settled quickly back to sleep. "Please, Luna do not let Melena out of the house again!" he said in his mind, to which a drowsy Luna replied,

"Okay dad."

Waving off the shock and mere coincidence, he set to writing a letter and then as soon as the sun began to rise in the east we was off on a business trip and Luna would read in the letter her dad left her. As he turned the corner of their little street, he looked back at where his home used to stand, in its place lay a net of mist and empty space. The spell had worked indeed…he turned in the direction of London and with a swipe of his cape he popped and vanished in the morning light.

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Mr. Lovegood returned to his little home in Devon not but three days later, thankfully happy that the mists still shrouded the spot where his home stood. The full moon began to peak over the clear horizon and as its light mingled with the mist the home appeared, at first it was wavy, as though looking at it through water. Pointing the wand at the image fading before him he cried out,

"_Incantantum surrexi_!"

The mist lifted and the small light in the kitchen window shone clearly out into the night. Down the street walked an elderly couple, having turned the corner just as Mr. Lovegood walked up the garden path to his home, nodding at them hello he turned into the doorway and disappeared behind it. The old man, turning to his wife said,

"Now, I know my memory's getting fuzzy, but I coulda sworn there wa' no 'ouse there las'nigh' much less a tower, I reckon the neighberood is growin' out of nowhere."

To which his wife replied, "And good thing to, I wa' beginnin' tah feel tha' there be no mah suprises in our ol' age."

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_Anima casasente_!- a spell intended to guard a home by using a familiar (eg a cat) as a sentinal (anima "spirit " +casa "home"+ sente "guard" spirit of the home watch and guard!)

_Incantantum surrexi_- a spell that lifts an incantation, specifically for the caster of said incantation (incantantum "incantation/spell" + surrexi "rise up!")


	2. An untold story

_I decided to post these in a series since a)they were all done and b) I don't know when I'll have time to post again. _

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_Three years later:_

Sitting in an under-heated room of Number 12 Grimauld Place, Remus Lupin, looked through spell book dating from before the 14th century, talking mostly of the veritable uses of scorpion poison in beauty regiments. What intrigued him weren't the pictures of very old and very dead women and men powdering their noses. What intrigued him were the coded messages inscribed in the border that professed spells long banished in the time of Merlin. In truth he was trying to see how Dark magic was passed on from one generation to the next without any authorities seeing any of it. No doubt after Sirius and his brother were gone to Azkaban, the House of Black was turned upside down for Dark Magic articles, with Aurors not finding a pence worth. Obviously the younger Aurors were not trained to look in books. The shuffle of feet entered his ears and he lifted his head to see who it was, there struggling to move a large stack of books was little Ginny Weasly, her red hair brilliantly glowing in the summer sun. He smiled and got up to help her. Time in the new Order Headquarters seemed to go by slowly, even though there was a lot of moving about and preparations being made. He would be going to fetch Harry soon, and he would enjoy getting out of this drab place and feel the wind in his hair again, though the Weasleys making the Grimauld Place their summer residence did indeed brighten the place up considerably. A Tabby cat bounded through the doors of the study they were in, carrying with it (dragging rather) a rolled up newspaper. Lupin gave a slight smile and went over to the cat stroking it gingerly before taking up the paper in his hands and saying,

"Thank you very much professor, I'm sorry I had to ask you to do that."

By the time he turned his attention to the cat an older woman stood before him dusting off her garments and resetting her glasses upon her pointed nose. The bun upon her head was razzled and her pointed hat lay upon the floor, apparently having fallen off in the transformation.

"You could have refrained from petting me Mr. Lupin, I'm not that kind of cat."

Striding, she walked toward the other end of the room and resumed her task of separating benign dusty books from ones placed in a box labeled, "Dangerous Books, Seriously don't open them…Ask Pennington James, but talk into his left ear the right one is missing, we don't know where it went."

Remus unrolled the paper and skipped the first few pages, which he knew was filled with filth and lies, and had been for quite a while. Reading through the moving print and pictures he saw an image that seemed to catch his eye and interest. In a small almost unnoticeable picture a wizard sat with a stern face, he seemed young, but his eyes were very old, and his jet black hair straightly framed his face, which was centered by a crooked nose. Above it in small bold-face letters read, "Former World Dueling Champion Arrested…"

At first he had to look at the picture again and with shock in his voice he called out,

"Professor I think you should look at this."

With a sigh and moan as she got up from her stool, Minerva McGonagall walked over to where Lupin stood and looked at the paper, searching for what had peaked his interest,

"What is it?"

"Eaglefeather's son was arrested."

"What!!"

Her gasp seemed to wake the whole household and shrieking soon followed as the picture of Sirius's grandmother portrait began yelling obscenities again. Running into the room were the only two people not in the study, one Sirius Black and Nymphadora Tonks, her hair turning a raging purple and fiery red.

"Who the bloody hell woke up Madame Banshee?"

The young woman said as she covered her ears and wore a cringed expression upon her face. When the old bat had finally settled into an endless rant about proper breeding and eventually to a mumbling about the good old days of beheading trespassers, Lupin called the four adults to him and began to read the article, which took some considerable time, since an advert for some magical foot cream kept pushing the article aside, trying to get his attention. It was only after he promised to buy some that the article moved away and tried to get someone else's attention. The article read like this,

_Former Undefeated World Dueling Champion Jonathan Accolon Eaglefeather, 23, was arrested in the States following an incident at the newly established Salem Institute for Magic. Three wizards and a witch were killed, authorities said Friday, presumably by a spell that could only be refered to as the Dark Dreamer's kiss, a spell which the half-wizard was famous for co-creating alongside the now deceased dark wizard Mordred Darkholme. Despite claims by other professors at the school establishing an alibi, authorities in the United States said, "only Eaglefeather could have known how to perform that spell, and in these time we can't take any chances." Eaglefeather waits for a trial date, which authorities say should be established by next week…Headmistress of the SIM, Prof. Selene Mchannon stands by the half-wizard despite losing three of her most prestigious compatriots, Prof. McHannon has been one of the most controversial education official in the past decade, eclipsed by her cohort Albus Dumbledore. There is no doubt that Dumbledore is now recruiting help from foreign countries and leading our once allies into another one of his lies…_

As soon as he had finished reading it, only Professor McGonagall and Sirius were quiet, Tonks who had never heard of the accused broke the silence when she asked,

"Who is this Eaglefeather anyway? Seems to me with a shady past like that, they're right to toss him in jail, no?"

"Johnathan Eaglefeather, is not and has never been a dark wizard…"

An aged voice came from the doorway as the figure of a tall long-bearded wizard stood before them. The Weasley children knew well enough by then that they ought to scurry off to their rooms. They knew Dumbledore wouldn't say anything in front of them, much less invite them to stay, and without much more than a glance from the old wizard they marched up to their rooms fidgeting through their pockets for some unknown treasure. When the door was shut Dumbldore pointed his ancient looking wand at the door and mumbled some spell. With a waft of air all was silent out side the study where the adult wizards stood, and to the world outside it was as if nothing, and no one was in the study either. With a gesture he bid them all sit, already in his hands he held a crumpled piece of that morning's paper. No one said anything at first and then the old wizard began, his voice sounded weary, like he had traveled a long way and had been talking the whole time.

"Accolon Eaglefeather was at one time a protégé of an infamous dark-wizard, yet I have known lad well enough to say that that dark chapter of his life is over."

The others assented his opinion and nodded, agreeing with his assessment, when the old wizard leaned back into his chair it was clear he wasn't going to be telling a story but rather listening to one as he put details in his mind. Prof. Mc Gonagall, who had know Dumbldore long enough to know his silent cues began her story as though she were giving a lesson, she removed her glasses looked at the picture of the young man and said,

"To understand the youth, you must look at who his parents were and the sad occurances of his life before this…"

As Tonks listened to a story she had never heard and as Ginny, Fred, George, Hermione, and Ron listened with intent extenda-ears the memories of Sirius and Lupin rolled back to a time they had put aside as childish and innocent…

_Many years ago_

A young Remus Lupin stepped off the Hogwart's Express, clutching his two bags so closely to his body that the veins in his hands peeped through the skin. His red and gold scarf began to chaff him and he wished for the night to come. The full moon wasn't for another 5 days but the sunlight already hurts his eyes and agitated his skin. Laughter came to his ears and as he turned to see where it came from a familiar voice rented through the crowd,

"Moony, you old corpse! Where were you on the train!"

A young boy, with jet-black hair, pointed good looks and a searing aristocratic smile beat him upon the back with an open plam; while a tall rattle-haired boy tousled his hair. Sirius and James smiled at him obscuring a small pudgy little boy behind them who waved at Remus trying to make himself noticed. Remus smiled warily and pointed at the sun,

"I had to find a nice dark compartment…only 5 days this time,", he said in a whisper, hoping to conceal their conversation.

"What? We would've drawn the shades for you…you could've just asked."

"James…I don't want you guys…accommodating me."

"_Accommodating me_…" said Sirius in a mocking tone, "My god Mooney you sound like an old man already…besides what are friends for eh James?"

"Right mate…now let's get a move on, the carriages aren't going wait forever."

The four boys ran off to join their classmates but a small voice shouted at them,

"Sirius! Siriiiius!"

The handsome boy turned around and grimaced, a little black haired boy ran up to him with a sneer on his face, carrying far too many bags and a small crackling crow in a cage.

"Oh bollocks, it's Rege, I forgot.", moaned Sirius as he stepped off of the carriage that his friends were already on. He threw the young boy's bags onto the ground saying, "You don't take 'em with you, you leave them here, besides you're supposed to be off with Hagrid."

"I'm not going with that half-blooded oaf!"

"Oi! You shut your mouth about him! Or I'll drown you in the lake!"

"Mother said you were supposed to look out for me! But you left me alone on the train and I had to sit by some _girls_." He said the last word with such disgust, as though the worst thing in the entire world was the opposite sex, which to an 11 year-old boy is quite the case.

"It's tradition Rege, you have to go on the Lake," said James, consolingly.

The younger boy scowled at him and imperiously snubbed his nose at the taller boy, "I wasn't talking to you, blood traitor."

"Git you little weasel! And don't say another word about my friends or I'll whip you so hard, Mother won't be able to take your head out of your own ass with all the spells of Morgan." He made a kicking gesture, which caused the little boy to retreat so quickly a little dust trail followed him along with laughter and jeering from the carriage.

Remus crossed his arms and shook his head,

"You shouldn't treat Regulus so crossly Sirius, he is your brother."

"And an unsufferable git, who takes after his nancy-boy uncle."

This elicited a loud boisterous laugh from James and a sycophantic chuckle from Peter, the pudgy fellow with his hands between his knees. Remus resigned himself to their laughter and even gave a slight grin, he pulled his cloak over his head and shielded his eyes from the burning autumn sun.

* * *

_Not knowing much about lycanthropes I have made a little stuff up, like being negatively sensitive to sunlight nearer to the full moon as a preliminary and temporary condition of being a werewolf._


	3. A lifting of the heart

_Since the birth dates of Sirius and the other Marauder's are somewhat fuzzy I have decided to make Sirius 2 years older than his brother Regulus since that's what most timelines have estimated it at. So when Regulus is at his first year the Marauders are in their 3rd. _

* * *

"Regulus Arcturus Black!"

A sprightly 40-something Minerva McGonagall read from a long scroll the name of Sirius's brother. Sirius who sat at the Gryffindor table grimaced at his younger brother as the young lad took his seat in front of all the other students; deep down he prayed that Regulus would be in Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw or better yet Hufflepuff. That would mean his parent's favoured son would be another pimple on the precious family name and they would leave him alone for once.

"Slytherin!!" said the ancient hat,

"Figures…he just had to ruin it," said Sirius as he turned to face Remus who was sitting right in front of him, eyeing the tenderloin that sat tantalizingly too far from his hands.

"Getting hungry eh Mooney? Well don't eat Peter, he's got to ask Helena Lefaer to snog him."

"I what!!!" said Peter Petigrew as butterbeer spewed out of his nose and mouth.

The boys laughed loudly which drew a harsh disapproving glance at Professor McGonagall. Remus smiled shyly at the joke but it hurt him a little; Helena Lefaer was the most beautiful girl in their year, at least according to him, James always told him it was Lilly Evans but then again James always did have queer tastes in friend and women. Helena was also the great crush of his life, the only girl who showed him kindness from the first time he stepped out of the Hogwart's express two years ago and tipped over a boat. He looked over towards the Ravenclaw table where Helena sat her raven black hair in an ornate ponytail and a silver comb in her hair, set with sapphires in the shape of a wing. Beside her sat a taller, older girl who sat so regally one would have thought her robes were made of the finest velvet. That's when he noticed she was staring right back into his own eyes sending him a wild smile that could only be given by a girl of 17. Her deep gray eyes pierced his heart and she raised an eye-brow and waved her finger, the exact same way Professor Binns did when he reprimanded a student. Startled at being noticed by the older girl he darted his eyes back down toward the table and hid his face with his hands, trying to pretend that he wasn't staring at all. The giggle of girls could be heard from their table, but mysteriously and unfairly did not reach the professors due to one Edgar Bones being called into Hufflepuff with a resounding cheer. James noticing Remus's hidden shame asked innocently,

"What's up Remus?"

"Nothing…nothing at all," which was a lie, though it was graciously hidden by the table and heavy robes.

"Ohhh…looking at Helena again are we Moony?"

"No…it was.. the girl next to her."

James looked at Sirius with a questioning glance, his mouth half-stuffed with a snatched roll,

"Who's that?"

"That's Maggie LeFaer, Helena's older sister…She's pretty smart and chisled Mooney you have good taste…"

"Maggie? I thought her name was French and elitist," said James ignoring the warning being given by Professor Dumbledore about not going into the Forbidden Forest and further warnings about injuries caused by the womping willow.

"Well kinda, Maggie is from her middle name, Magdalene, I don't recall what her full name is…she's always been Maggie at Black family socials."

"She's one of your lot?", said Peter, his face stuffed full of pie, which was his custom, desert first, food later, if at all, "She's a pure-blood?"

"Yeh, she is, but her family is filled with Muggles, my mum only tolerates them cuz they have money, lots of it…and any old wizarding family worth a damn has a LeFaer in their stock."

"Do you?" questioned Remus, grabbing a huge piece of tenderloin steak and a couple of pieces of bacon wrapped grease from the table.

"Nah, mum's always wanted one though…when she heard Helena was in my year she invited her over to our place for a Holiday and spent the whole time trying to get her to fall in love with me, commenting how proud she was of her eldest son getting high marks, for once."

The boys laughed as the feast went on, yet Remus kept looking up at Maggie Lefaer, her dark raven hair cascading down her shoulders framing her gray eyes, like two stars shining on a moonless night, his favorite kind of nights. Her lips smiling wide and unabashed as she heard a joke from the person in front of her. He noticed that she didn't eat any meat while she ate, and she ate her desert so wonderfully it was almost censorable. She smiled at him only one more time that evening and then whispered to a fellow Ravenclaw who giggled and mouthed,

"Awww, How cute!"

Helena LeFaer was now ancient history as far as Remus Lupin was concerned.

As the year droned on Remus caught several glimpses of Maggie LeFaer, once he stood behind her as they qued up for a Quidditch Match, then he gave her the date when she was sitting in the great hall during lunch and asked for it as she wrote a letter home. It wasn't until the Christmas holidays came that he even heard the sound of her voice; she stood in the alcove beside the great hall putting three trunks worth of stuff onto a carriage that jumped up and down with the added weight, he wondered why she was doing it in the muggle-fashion anyway while her wand sat perfectly ready in a bun on the top of her head. She called out to him as he hid, not so successfully behind a column,

"You know, the least you could do is help a lady with 'er bags rather than watch 'er like a hawk watching a rabbit."

Her voice was a light Irish brough mixed with another continental accent, almost Spanish or French, the effect sounded musical and otherworldly. He stepped shyly out from behind the column and put his books on a bench that was draped in snow. He stooped to pick up a trunk with both hands, trying to be manly and carry it himself, but the trunk didn't even leave the ground much less allow itself to be carried,

"Those would be my books, here take the robe-trunk."

She lifted a gray trunk with Moorish designs surrounding it and placed it in his hands, the weight was significant but feasible and he walked over to the carriage, dropping it heavily upon another trunk, she laughed as he did this.

"You know, you coulda used a levitation spell."

"Uhhh…yeah"

He countered with an awkward chuckle, now that she had used three full sentences speaking directly at him he summed up his courage to strike up a conversation,

"Why, didn't u…use..a…ah..lavitation spell."

"Because my trunks don't need _levitating_ they need _levitating_"

She laughed musically at her barb and continued,

"Haven' you ever gottin' so tired of doing things with your wand that you need to get your hands a little dirty."

"No…"

"Just me then."

She smiled again and pointed her finger at her book trunk, wordlessly she lifted it up onto the carriage and flawlessly set it down.

Agape he mouthed out silent words until finally he stammered out,

"Y-You do wandless magic! B-But your only…"

"17? Yeah, quite a parlor trick isn't it?"

"I thought it took years to learn how."

"Not if you study 'ard, and you 'ave my grandmother to teach yah every summer."

"Whose your…?"

"Sofie Aleithia LeFaer, you've probably seen 'er on those chocolate frog cards."

He hadn't, but he was finally talking to Maggie LeFaer, a full conversation with Maggie LeFaer!

"Wow! That's cool."

"Cool? What is cool?"

He forgot that Muggle words were sometimes unknown in the wizarding world, apparently this one hadn't reached the LeFaer household.

"It's nothing…just a word."

She smiled, again; He sighed again, though now inside. Just then Helena walked up to them and ruined the moment,

"Hi Reemy, come to see us off!"

Maggie laughed as Reemy was said, and he slouched again, Reemy was his least favorite nickname at school, and to have Helena say it in front of Maggie was torturous. Feeling the need to correct this slight to his ego he said,

"Actually its Remus…Remus John Lupin."

"Well, fine then _Remus John Lupin_, care to help a lady with her bags." Helena said in her flirtiest tone. Sticking his head high he flicked his wand and with the words

_locomotor trunks!_

The trunks lifted off the ground and settled themselves awkwardly on a carriage next to the already loaded one. They didn't settle right and one came crashing down to the snow-ridden floor, making a cracking sound and then a stench of some perfume filled the air. Helena let out a scream and ran to where her trunk fell; immediately out from the snow came a tiny sapling which began to flower little white flowers and then as it was exposed to the bitter cold wilted faster than any one could fathom. Helena cried as she picked up the pieces of a broken bottle, Maggie stooped down to help her, both of them completely forgetting the boy behind them. Embarassed and not wanting to hear the scolding of Maggie for breaking her sister's newest concoction Remus ran from the scene leaving his books behind.

Later that day he sat in Professor McGonagall's office waiting for his customary escort to the whomping willow when a small tap came from the window. He opened it and saw a setting sun in the west just a few more hours till his change was to come. From the outside a gray owl popped into the room and shook off the snow that had settled on it. it dropped a letter onto the ground before flying to the fireplace to warm itself. Remus stooped down and picked up the small letter, it was addressed to him and was written using a deep blue, almost purple ink. He tore open the letter, just as a knock came at the door and Madame Pomfrey entered, motioning him to follow her, her wand held at the ready. As they made their monthly trip down the stairs and toward the Willow that sealed his hideaway he read the letter in wild and untamed script,

_Dear Remus John Lupin,_

_I am terribly sorry that we scared you off; my sister tends to overreact when one of her inventions fails. It was not your fault, you did a very nice levitation spell, one of the best for someone so young. And don't feel like you have to hide around me, I shall see you after the holidays, no? I look forward to talking to you again Remus, by far you are the most interesting conversation I have had with a boy thus far…most gawk and say "you're pretty" before drooling. I'm glad you held your own…not many men could do that when faced with a LeFear woman, much less two. Happy Christmas and New Year_

_Sincerely, _

_Luna Magdalene LeFaer_

Luna Magdalene Lefaer, that was her full name…Luna Magdalene LeFaer, what's more she called him a man and the most interesting conversation she had had…True she was probably humoring him and being playful, but she called him a man! That night as he lay in his bed in the shrieking shack he smiled and all his pain of turning from human to lycanthrope felt like nothing, because Luna Magdalene LeFaer called him, Remus John Lupin, a man and was looking forward to talking to him again.

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_What tale of growing up wouldn't be complete without a boy's crush and with an older woman to boot!_


	4. Strange Visitors

_This chapter begins in the present of the Order of the Pheonix; but quickly reverts back to Marauders time. Just in case anyone gets lost. _

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"Wait a minute, I don't understand…"

,said Tonks as Professor McGonagall finished telling the story of how Eaglefeather's mother arrived at Hogwart's. All attention was sent toward her as her eyes turned an inquisitive yellow and her hair a brilliant white, a clear indication she was paying attention.

"LeFaer is a French name, and a French family. Shouldn't she have gone to Beauxbaton's?"

Sirius sighed at his cousin's daughter, he became more irritable as the night began to approach, not because of any physical malady, but because being cooped up inside for the greater part of one month left him so. It was exasperating more so because of Harry being attacked less than a day ago, and with him inside without the ability to stop it.

"Of course she ought to have! But we all know rich pure-bloods, they get most anything they want don't they."

Remus chuckled at the barb,

"Oh yes do tell us Sirius of the House of Black, how elitist and judgmental pure-bloods can be."

A laugh was heard upstairs, and then two quick popping noises; looking up Dumbldore smiled a very thin almost nonexistent smile and then it faded away as he brought their conversation to a close, for the night had already begun to spread over the window sill. The time was coming to pick up Harry and they would soon not have any more time for such pleasantries.

"Hogwart's has always been open to the students of the world, true there is a great list of students _guaranteed_ admittance and so few turn it down. But every so often a child from another land is allowed admittance into our school and their children after them are given the same chance. So it was for the LeFaer sisters, their great-grandmother Gaia went to Hogwart's when I was just a lad and several generations of LeFaers before her have donned the colors of the houses of Hogwart's rather than attend Beauxbatons or Xanacastillo…Yet now the time grows shorter for us to talk of such things…Remus when you get back I would like to speak with you for a moment, the usual time and place?"

Lupin awoke from his thoughts and merely nodded his head as the old wizard stood from his chair and left the room. Before anyone could ask him any questions he got up and went into the kitchen, calling after him,

"It's a long way to Little Whinging perhaps we should get a move on, eh Nymphadora?"

"I told you to call me Tonks!" said the red-haired girl as she strode out of the room in a huff.

Other sounds could be heard bustling in the kitchen and dining room; the other members would be arriving shortly and so too would Harry. Molly Weasley could be heard moving pots and pans around and scolding her husband to get out of the kitchen while she prepared dinner. In all the commotion none of the adults heard a young Ginny Weasely creep down the stairs and re-enter the study. There upon the couch where Dumbledore sat was the crumpled up newspaper with the picture of a young wizard, dark straight hair framing his face. He wore dress robes, or what looked like dress robes that were tattered and battle-worn; in the revolving image he was silent and noble even though his hands were tied behind his back; he was being escorted onto a black carriage drawn by black horses with eagle wings. The carriage had a brilliant white sun emblazoned on the back with a giant seal that read, Salem Aurors Precinct 227. After hearing someone approach the study she stuffed the newspaper into her sweater and quickly sped out of the room. She bumped into Lupin who was heading out the door with his broom, yet before he could say anything she mumbled a quick "good luck" and sped up the stairs with her find, all the while thinking to herself,

_I wonder if she knows?_

Remus followed her with his curious eyes up the stairs until his concentration was broken by a pat on the back,

"Well are we goin' or aren't we?…Moody'll be ticked if we're late arriving at the rendezvous point. You know him, _If your late your dead!"_

Tonks stood behind him with her back slouched using her broom as a cane mimicking Moody's crumpled up face and expression. Remus smiled at her jockeying and walked out of the door saying,

"Very well, let's get a move on then."

The pair walked toward the nearby park, brooms hidden in their robes as the newlywed couple who lived down the street walked past them, smiles permanently tattooed on their faces, blissful and unaware of the war growing up around them. Tonks leaned into Remus mimicking or mocking the lover's star-crossed behavior, making Remus entirely uncomfortable.She nuzzled her nose into his stubble and placed her arm into his, making kissing noises into his neck. He pushed her away with a hushed, "_Tonks!!_" under his breathe. The purple haired girl quickly crossed her arms and masked her anger at her rejection; they turned into the park and found an empty playground. With a kick of their heels they flew high up into the sky and were high above London's skyline before another word was said between them. It was Tonks, who interrupted the silence,

"So…you knew this LeFaer woman?"

"Ahh… yes I did and her sister, she was in my year."

"Was she pretty?"

"Who?" said Remus, oblivious to the fishing of facts.

"This man Eaglefeather's mother, was she pretty?"

"Why is that important?" Remus countered, swooshing by a goose that had lost its way and suddenly found itself flying beside two humans on brooms.

"Well I was just wondering… he looked rather…tall, dark and handsome, in his picture."

"Did he?"

For some strange reason Remus felt a pang in his heart that he had felt only once before, it was clearly jealousy, but why now? His memory flittered back to a time he last felt the red hot bursting in his heart…

"I'm telling yah mate that's what it is!"

James voice came from the other side of the compartment. The four friends were distinctly excited at their oncoming fourth year. Remus clutched his used copy of Booleanus Aljabr's, "Arithmancy and the Stars, a Wizards Guide to Precise Divinations."

"And I'm telling you it's not, they haven't opened the Tri-Wizard Tournament in over 100 years. They aren't gonna start now!"

Sirius' upper-crust tenor contested playfully with Jame's down to earth bass. Remus on the other hand looked down at a crumpled piece of paper that was worn out from an entire summer of re-opening and inspection. The letters almost had worn off and were hardly legible. Yet he didn't need to read them, he had the words memorized in two weeks flat. They read,

_Dear RJ,_

_I'm glad the rest of your year was fun, and again I'm sorry if I left you hanging after Christmas Holidays. Helena told me, when I saw her again that you were beside yourself when you saw her get off the train without me. And I had hoped she would show better tact than to play with you like that, but trust me little girls are cruel when they are smitten._

_I hope you understand that positions such as mine come rarely. The States are a very different world than the one we are used to, I met one girl who flew into school in a car! It seems so liberating here, and so free…don't take me for naïve, I saw the darker side of the pond, my new friends showed me that much. _

_If you can ever make it to Salem please do and look up Selene McHannon, she's a young DADA professor at the school here, I told her about you and how smart you are. I'm thinking she wants to recruit you for next year's student exchange program. Keep your fingers crossed._

_Maggie_

_P.S. I'll be seeing you next year…But I won't say more it's a surprise!_

"What do you have there Mooney?"

The small voice of Peter woke Remus from his dream, the young lad twirled his wand in his fingers and looked at him with a curious glance.

" It's nothing, just some mail I got over the summer holiday."

"Is it from…_her._"

The boys started to nudge him and began to laugh as he blushed; they never stopped teasing him for catching the approving eye of Maggie LeFaer, whom they began calling the Fairy Queen, based off of some joke that was rather funny at the time but quickly forgotten as the laughter almost made them suffocate.

Helena thought they were talking about her and focused her attentions on Remus much more, even to the point of sending Lily Evans into the Gryffindor common room with a perfumed Valentine that sprung huge red roses when he opened it. The smell would not leave the common room for weeks, an effect that the girls loved but the boys found nauseous.

The train began to slow down as they entered Hogsmeade, James and Sirius continued their argument over the Tri-Wizard Tournament, that began in London when a large head boy, Suidus Golding, from Slytherin, spread a rumor from his dad, who worked in the Department of International Magical Co-operation. The rumor went that Hogwart's was playing host to schools from different parts of the world; everyone assumed it was the three most famous schools in all of Europe and the rumor was made more grande as it passed though the compartments and onto the carriages. As they entered the grande hall for another long sorting ceremony, and messages from the headmaster, Remus looked eargerly at the Ravenclaw table, hoping to catch a glimpse of Maggie sitting at her usual place.

"She wasn't on the train Mooney, she's not going to be sitting with students anymore… she left Hogwart's already."

Remus turned to Sirius, who patted him on the back beckoning him to sit down at their usual position in the middle of the table, all the while telling some second years to shove off and move. Rather than look angry they took it as a compliment, being shoved off by Sirius and his gang was the hightlight of their first day back. Still despite his friend's logical reasoning he looked all around the grand hall for the familiar dark hair and red lips; he almost gave up hope until…There! Standing in the doorway talking to some gawky looking Ravenclaw stood a tall girl with shimmering black hair. Her back was to Remus but he was sure it was her, she stood the same way, she had her wand in her hair as usual. The girl turned to sit at the table with the cross-eyed boy, would she see him?…then the girl turned only to reveal a severely taller, much more mature-looking Helena, whose clothing was obviously still old, due to the fact that her sweater left little to the imaginations of some boys. Remus was disappointed at first, but that left as Helena, with her new, less-childish smile, waved at him from across the hall. He waved back and sat down when he felt a tug at his cloak, Professor McGonagall was about to begin the sorting ceremony.

The ceremony was not that long as the first years numbered only 39; James noted that Professor McGonagall was wearing rather fancy robes for such a normal occasion as a sorting ceremony…more proof that it was the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Then Professor Dumbledore stood, wearing a regal blue and silver robe, marked with stars that seemed to blink in the candlelight. He raised his hands to let the clapping subside, and began his customary speech,

"Good evening to all of you and welcome to another year at our beloved Hogwart's, I am pleased to announce some wonderful and exciting news…But first this year's announcments."

A great groan of disappointment went through the crowd of students.

"As usual the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students, unless accompanied by a professor or our game-keeper, Hagrid, and only during the daylight hours."

He winked a knowing eye at the Gryffindor table, who chuckled as they in turn looked at James, Sirius, Peter and Remus, who held their necks up, defiant of this warning. A scough could be heard from Lily Evans and her group, as well as from the Slytherin table.

"Once again I must warn all students that the Whomping Willow is off limits, Mr. Creevy luckily has regained the dexterity of his left leg, thanks to the asupices of Madame Pomfrey late last year. For this year the Quidditch tournament between our houses shall be placed on hiatus…"

Now a deafening roar could be heard of protests from the captains of the Quidditch Teams and their teams. James looked furious, if the Tri-Wizard Tournament meant the closing of Quidditch he was ready to launch a hunger stirke if need be. The headmaster continued undetered and with a simple lifting of his hand the crowd silenced in less than one minute.

"Instead, our beloved field shall play host to three distinguished schools from around the world who have from far and distant lands to observe our beloved Hogwart's in action… This gathering shall prove to be exciting for our students because it shall expose them to things they never would have experienced. This is your opportunity children to know parts of our world that normally take wizards and witches years to explore, I hope each and every one of your will take advantage of this remarkable event. I now present our guests for the remainder of the year; students and teachers of Hogwart's I now present the delegation from the Amarnath school of North India, led by their Headmaster, Professor Surya Patil…."

A huge blast awoke every one as the hall doors slamed open and four huge banners flew into the Grand Hall led by their own whim. They were scarlet, gold, blue and purple and they rushed like hawks over the heads of the sutdents as an alien music burst into the room. The banners were follwed by a train of dancing men and women who held shimmering wands that let fly flames and sprouts of sparks and fragrant smoke. Four young men carried a huge elephant shaped trunk on a litter and above them flew an older, round shaped man dressed in bright silks, standing on top of a flying carpet. Applause erupted from the students as the procession ended its pagent in a flourish before the teacher's table where Dumbledore stood clapping and smiling proudly; the two men embraced each other warmly and then bowed to one another. They exchanged a few words while the applause from the students began to die down; Dumbledore then motioned to the door and began again,

"The delegation from our daughter school, the Salem Witches' Institute of the Thirteen Towns led by their Headmistress, Professor Alicia Bishop and her staff…"

With less pageantry than the Amarnath School, a tall austere blonde woman walked in, dressed head to toe in a black robe trimmed with white. Her hat had a wide brim and a gold buckle above it; clearly it was a family heirloom because parts of it were mended here and there. She wore it with a fierce pride and if she were possibly a few decades younger she would have been a very beautiful woman. Behind her walked four other adults, two men and two women; however one striking feature of the lot was their rather relaxed dress. The two women wore loose-fitting cotton shirts and their colorful, earthy skirts flowed easily to the ground. The two men had extremely long hair and wore blue and pink colored glasses, and instead of robes they wore kaftans and a myriad amount of beaded necklaces. Behind them the parade of some students drew gasps and cries of surprise. They wore no uniforms and though some were dressed like their teachers others had spiked hair and wore studded leather jackets, others wore knitted sweaters with an SWI emblazoned with a bright red label. At the end of the line came one more teacher, a young woman; her hair was short and slicked back; she wore a white t-shirt, jeans and a black leather jacket and her wand fitted tightly into the side of her jeans. She flew into the hall with a loud and boisterous roar as she rode of all things, a huge motorcycle that spouted firecrackers as the engine was gunned! She landed with a huge grumbling of the engine and to loud applause for the spectacle.

Dumbledore laughed as Professor Bishop, the woman with the wide brim hat, held her hand out and shook the headmasters' hands. Sirius who had been largely ignoring the spectacles was now attentive, admiring the motorcycle that stood in the middle of the grand hall, shimmering in the light of the candles.

"And lastly but certainly not least, Professor Diego Xochipilli Hidalgo of the School of Kukulcan in the Yucatan and his…"

Dumbldore was silenced as the doors opened to reveal a single man, not a parade or even a delegation. He was old but strong looking; his face was stern and his eyes were a deep jet black; he was dressed in strange attire, not a robe or even clothes at all but a sheet wrapped around his body dyed a brilliant red and blue. He held a staff from which hung several leather pouches and a cache of bright turquoise feathers that shimmered brightly. He walked up to Dumbledore and shook his hands silently, then he turned around and peered over all the students amassed there; he smiled and chuckled a little, and then put a closed fist to his mouth.

He breathed out a hollow breath into it and suddenly a blue-green flame appeared from no where and he cast it onto the floor. Drumbeats could be heard at the door and two men entered beating large hollow drums that seemed to be made of stone. Remus looked intently at the fire as the old man held his staff aloft over his head and brought it crashing down into the flames. With a thunderous clash and a brilliant light a whole host of animals from deer to rabbits, from eagles to bears leaped from the flames and materialized before their eyes. The drums became louder as the beasts jumped, flew and ran around the entire hall. Then a great roar amid the din was heard in the hall as a great black jaguar leapt from a burst of blue-green flame and landed on the Gryffindor's table staring Lilly Evans in the face. It roared once more and caused all the Gryffindors to trip and move from their seats; laughter followed as the jaguar calmly descended from the table and walked toward the center, where the host of animals were beginning to gather.

Suddenly, one by one, each beast turned into a human being and began to play flutes, drums, and other strange instruments and some began chanting in strange tongues. As the drumbeats became faster and faster they reached a zenith and with a final thunderous crash a great phoenix erupted from the flames and flew around the room. The bird streaked across the ceiling of the grand hall, and let out a long melodious cry; its melody was deep and, though it sounded sad and melancholy, Remus began to feel sublimely happy and it reminded him of the cold winter nights, when his mother would make him hot chocolate and they would hang stockings on the chimney without worrying if there was a full moon that night. The jaguar roared one last time and with ease reverted back into his human form: a tall handsome young man with pitch black hair and strange eyes. He held aloft his arm and the phoenix landed there and gave a final cry and nothing more was said in the Grand Hall for a long time.

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_Please review what you have read, I would love to hear some feedback from you all. even if you disagree with what it being written. _


	5. The Cunning of Maggie LeFear

_

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Continuing the flashback. _

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Silence filled the room as everyone took in the spectacle, Lilly was still sitting where she was and scared stiff until a pat from the head girl shook her from her daze. Dumbledore didn't seem phased a bit by the spectacle and in fact laughed and clapped his hands like a young child. He laughed loud and hard as others began to join him, once the surprise had worn off. As it finally began to die down and the assembly was reminded of their hunger, Dumbledore raised his hands one last time and called all attention to himself,

"Now without further a due I give you, finally, Mr, Bartemeus Crouch who painstakingly arranged for this event to be held at our very own and very dear Hogwarts."

A tall mustached man stood from the teacher's table and wore a huge smile on his face; he seemed young-spirited, even though his hair was graying and peeking out from under his bowler hat. His voice was firm, though jovial, he was obviously a man who loved discipline, though in his younger days he had seen his own fair share of teenage misadventures. The grumbling in Remus's stomach drowned out the words of the mustached man. In an instant the signal was given and everyone began to eat with ravenous joy, and conversations made the hall a deafening place to be. The delegations from the other schools sat far on the other side of the Grand Hall and every so often one of their students would walk over to a Hogwart's table and sit down among the students there. After he had engorged himself, Remus shifted off from the table complaining of a headache and ran out of the room for peace and quiet. He was going to head up to the Gryffindor house where he could take off the hot, binding clothes and robes and shut out the light of the waxing moon, but as he turned the corner to enter the hall of the changing stairs he bumped into someone and tumbled to the floor, where a loud thud reverberated in his skull, only making matters worse.

"Bloody hell…," he cursed as he rubbed the now swelling bruise.

"Merde! Remus, I am so sorry…"

That voice, he would remember that voice anywhere. As Maggie LeFaer stooped to help him up Remus's face filled with blood, sweat and a healthy dose of embarrassment. She was surprisingly strong as she catapulted him to his feet using only one hand, and began to dust him off.

"I was in such a hurry to get into the Great Hall I didn' see you rounding tha' corner…Are you hurt?"

Remus came to his senses as she asked again, looking deeply into his eyes with her own; the pure gray and silver of them shocked him out of stupor as her eyes peered into his, examining his expression for any sign of concussion.

"I'm…uh…I'm fine."

She smiled her kind, sweet loving…

"There you are!"

A stern voice broke the burgeoning romantic moment and the sound of a cane and two patent leather shoes hobbled over to the pair. Mr. Crouch was a lot less jovial now, he seemed upset and not in a mood to hear a flurry of excuses. He towered over them and looked directly at Maggie, fire streaming from his eyes, completely ignoring the concussed boy between them. Maggie straightened her back and defiantly took his gaze with an amused smile.

"I was just coming to see you Mr. Crouch, when I ran into an old friend."

"I did not hire you to mingle, you are my intern and as such your place is beside me, do you…"

"Do not make me your house elf, _Barty_, a LeFaer is not used to being bullied."

A silence fell between them as Mr. Crouch stood stark stunned by the clear breech in protocol. Remus felt as though he was getting smaller and more insignificant by the minute; suddenly his mouth opened and he said,

"Brilliant display, Mr. Crouch, really…absolutely marvelous."

"Thank you …Wha…Who are you!"

"His name is Remus Lupin…he's a student here…and he was just leaving."

It took a while for Remus's feet to follow Maggie's command, but as he walked off he heard the two exchanging heated words…

"If you think that just because your grandmother is Madame Sofie, do not think for one second that I won't sack you on…"

"And if you think tha' I will be reprimanded for an innocent action then you are sadly mistaken. I 'ave done nothing wrong nor anything detrimental"

"Such insolence, your tardiness is grounds enough…"

"If you recall, _Mr. Crouch_, I am late because _you_ forgo' your gloves. It's a long walk from Hogsmeade station to Hogwarts withou' apparation!"

"Child, I should fire you on the spot!"

"Then do it! And see if you can run this without me! I'd rather be sacked than not be respected, you forge' Mr. Crouch this event was completely organized under my auspices…if you feel it can be run better then be my guest and prove me wrong."

Remus hung behind a column and heard the whole debate, he bit his lip, not knowing who would win. He had never heard a girl argue with a superior like that before…True she was an aristocrat, but even Sirius knew not to argue with someone who could ruin your whole career. He heard a guff and a cane scratching across the floor, then the sound of two heels stormed in Remus's direction; as he pressed himself against the column he hid behind he saw Maggie storm off down a deep corridor. He was about to follow her when he heard Mr. Crouch talking to someone else,

"She's gone…"

"What!"

A strong American accent broke into the silence, it sounded deep and hoarse, though it came from a woman's throat; Remus peeked over the edge of the column to see what was happening. There standing tall over Mr. Crouch was the woman who rode in on a motorcycle, she seemed furious; Dumbledore was there also, along with Professor Patil. Apparently Maggie and Mr. Crouch's conversation had been heard in the Grand Hall.

"What do you mean she's gone!" interjected the woman again.

"She did not know her place. So I fired her."

The woman turned from her freckled white to full on red, "She didn't know her place!? What kind of archaic, patriarchal bull-"

"Now, now Professor McHannon, let us be reasonable…Barty has never fired anyone without provocation in all the years I have known him. I am sure heated words were exchanged, words that can easily be resolved."

"Excuse me Professor, but it seems to me we are in, how you say a bend."

"I believe you do mean 'bind' Professor Patil…and yes I quite agree with you. Barty is there any way…"

"None whatsoever, I am not rehiring that aristocratic…"

"Watch it…"

As this little debate went on Remus heard a slight step fall in behind him, he turned expecting Filch to be standing there grimacing at the prospect of his first student to torture for the new year. Yet standing behind him stood Maggie, dressed as though she was heading off for a long trip, she even had two enormous suitcases beside her. She was smiling, despite having been sacked only a few minutes earlier; her smile wasn't of amusement but of cunning. In a whisper she motioned to the little debate,

"_The first_ _rule of the real world Remus, make your self indispensable._"

"Barty, this colloquium needs a head, is there any way you can administer it?"

"None, I have meetings booked every week and I shall be attending my family's villa in Italy for a whole month…I assume any one of you headmasters can run the event."

"We can run our individual parts Mr. Crouch, but eh…we also have our own students to think about. And furthermore, Ms. LeFaer was the liaison between our schools, she knows how the program is to run."

"Besides Crouch, we need a member of your department to run it, otherwise it would seem as though you Brits can't run a proper show."

"_Second find allies in anything you do…"_Maggie continued, with a twinge of joy in her voice. "_And when all else fails, make a dramatic exit."_

Rounding the column where they both stood hidden, Maggie stood tall, picked up her bags and set her eyes straight ahead. Her smile was gone, except in her eyes which still shimmered with coy pleasure, like a cat whose cornered a mouse. In a loud and strong voice, albeit melodramatically upset, Maggie stomped her way towards the group of adults gathered,

"Well, Mr. Crouch I assume this means the end of my internship and any other opportunites with you or the ministry…I wish you the best of luck…oh and here are my notes…they help run the program"

She handed him a thick notebook which was worn and had obviously seen a great deal of travel. Mr. Crouch opened it greedily, but his victorious smile faded. Maggie began to walk toward the main doors of the school.

"Wait just one second there Ms. LeFaer! These _notes_ are in Greek!"

"Technically they are in Homeric Greek… You did say to keep the program a secre' so there are a few roaming ciphers in it. I'm sure a man of your intelligence can crack it in no time. Adieu!"

She picked up her bags and strode straight to the main door, the young jaguar-man was leaning lazily in the door frame, smirking widely from ear to ear. An irregular eyebrow tilted upward as he nonchalantly inspected an apple in his hand. He almost burst out laughing when Mr. Crouch heaved a huge breath and said,

"Very well you impetuous girl…you are re-hired."

He shoved the notebook into the waiting hands of Professor McHannon and hobbled off into the Grand Hall, where conversation had begun to return to normal after the small play. The other adults joined him except for the jaguar-man who stayed, leaning on the doorway and Dumbledore who crossed his arms and smirking shook his head at Maggie.

"That was a very dangerous move Ms. LeFaer, what if he had decided not to give you your job back?"

"Then I would have made due, Professor, I have other skills that are of use in many other places…"

"Indeed you do, just like your grandmother…As for you Mr. Lupin I assume you learned a valuable lesson."

Remus shyly came from his hiding spot, asking himself, _How does he do that all the time?_ Dumbledore motioned for him to approach them, his long twig like fingers moving like limbs in a breeze.

"Mr. Lupin I need to speak with you, concerning your _housing arrangements_. There has been an undue change."

This was their code for the whomping willow and his monthly lodgings at the Shrieking Shack, though what confused him was that they would be speaking about it now. It being his fourth year he knew the routine well enough. The two of them walked to the Gryffindor House, where he was intending on going in the first place. As he turned to wave goodbye to Maggie he saw her talking to the Jaguar-man; they seemed to know each other very well and he didn't like the way he was smiling at her, it was…too friendly.

"Mr. Lupin, the teachers and I have decided to adjust your monthly relocations; seeing that the school will no doubt be busier than it has ever been there will be many more eyes watching all different parts of the school, even at night."

"Does this mean I have to stay there all the time?"

"Oh heavens no...the week of the full moons you will leave the grounds before sunset and arrive before sunrise, that way the other children will just assume you are going to bed. I have arranged that a professor will be waiting for you in your new room to take you through a hidden door. Keep in mind, Mr. Lupin it is imperative that this passageway remain hidden…You do seem to be rather distracted."

"Huh? Oh no I'm listening Professor…"

"Good, since the full moon is only a few days away it would perhaps be best if I escort you there post haste…the feast is about to end."

Remus could already hear the mass exodus of stuffed children leaving the grand hall; he wanted to tell James and Sirius about his run-in with Maggie, as he looked back at the grand hall he saw Maggie ending her conversation with the Jaguar-man; she bent in and kissed him on the cheek in the French manner. He felt a hot burning feeling in his chest and his eyes began to feel his eyes turning red and his collar began to choke him…the moon was already affecting him, making his blood boil... he hated these weeks.

* * *

"Oi, we're here." 

Tonk's voice broke Remus's train of thought; Tonks had been talking about her family when they spotted a figure standing amid the shadows of Privett drive. He held a huge cane and slumped to hide his drinking from a silver flask. No lights were on in the Dursely's house, just the way they wanted it…Remus had yet to meet the Dursely's and from what Harry told him he thought he never wanted to. From nowhere four silent pops filled the air, Kingsley, Vance, Hestia and Dedalus stood before them, wielding 4 brooms and dusting themselves off.

"Well then, shall we?"

Said Moody as he hobbled toward the house where Harry waited.

* * *

_As always my friends review. the next chapter should be coming up shortly_


	6. Dr Lupin and Mr Hyde

_We take another time trip, this time two years earlier from the present (Order of the Pheonix), during the Prisoner of Azkaban.

* * *

_

Two Years earlier: 

Remus sat in the Hogwart's Express huddled beneath his coat and warming himself with a bit of fire in his hands. He had felt cold, far colder than he ever felt before; the Dementors had left their mark on every major transport in all of Britain. The issue of the Daily Prophet that lay at his feet showed a sneering Sirius Black, his eyes filled with rage, anger and hatred… he couldn't believe they were once friends. He felt so exhausted from the previous week, the potion still was in his system and always left him physically and mentally drained in the mornings. He read through his syllabus for the coming year and was rather proud of himself for its radical detachment from the usual curricula. "Maggie would have been proud," said Remus to himself and he yawned and let his eyes drift him off into a daydream. As he did the door to the compartment slid open and a girl's voice seemed to say something he could not quite hear. His eyes concentrated on the small fire in his hands and his mind flittered back to his fourth year, when he first saw someone hold _heliothanata_ in their hands …

* * *

The Quidditch Pitch looked nothing like it usually did; standing tall amid the hoops and stands stood three large white tents each with a different banner above it. Noises were everywhere as the four "marauders" ambled into the festival atmosphere. Flying through the skies were dozens of students on brooms, through the end spewed red, white and blue banners of smoke. The Salem Dervishes were the hottest and youngest team in Quodpot that year…though no one in England had ever heard of them until a few weeks ago, when Hogwarts began hosting three magical schools from around the world. Every week, the students of Hogwarts were allowed to leave their usual lessons and receive lessons from the teachers of others schools and students from those schools did the same. Remus had so far been to lessons from the Amarnath and Salem schools, one in transfiguration the other in flying. James had spent most of his time with the Americans, showing off his broom skills, making all the American girls love him as much as the Hogwart's girls did. Sirius stayed with him, though the only interest he had was the motorcycle that Professor McHannon drove in on. Despite the fact that only seventh years could take it for a spin, Sirius learned all he could about enchanting Muggle automobiles and other objects. Peter followed Remus to whatever lessons he went to and Remus in turn went to any lessons given, or assisted by or even featuring Maggie. She was always happy to see him, when he entered the openings of the tents and insisted he get waivers from his teachers to attend more lessons outside of the prescribed weekly ones. He had gotten a few, but was disappointed to learn that Maggie wasn't involved with any of these outside lessons. Still they proved useful and, according to Lily he seemed to enjoy them more than the classes at Hogwarts.

The tent that held the School of Kukulcan stood in the farthest corner of the pitch; it had a plume of smoke emanating from the top and smelled of musky herbs and almost acrid potions. There was a rather large group inside already, most wanting to learn how that old man transported all those students in his little cane; others wanted to see the lunar phoenix. They called it that because it was a deep blue-green with tips of silver and white; the beak was a brilliant gold and when it flew it always left a trail of brilliant blue and red smoke that sparkled as it fell to the ground. The large group was noisy and carrying on conversations of their own; as soon as Remus entered the tent a voice called out,

"Remmie! Up here! I saved you a seat!"

Darting his head above him he saw Helena waving voraciously at him, beckoning him to join her. Beside her sat Lilly Evans who, after seeing that Remus was alone with Peter, gave a sigh of relief and uncrossed her arms. Beside her sat a pale boy with greasy black hair and a solemn expression, who seemed uncomfortable to even be sitting there; he sneered at a chubby Hufflepuff girl, who squeezed in beside him and blushed when he accidentally looked her in the eye. Remus was never one to pass up a seat among people he knew, it had taken him a very long time to acquire the friends he had and by their good graces he wasn't invisible anymore. He and Peter squeezed in next to Helena just as Maggie arrived through the tent opening with an older Shaman woman that Remus had seen teaching classes at the Salem tent.

"Why, _Remmie_, I did not think you would arrive anywhere without your…companions."

The serious boy sneered out of the corner of his mouth; this elicited a small bit of laughter from some Slytherins in the row above them.

"I'm perfectly fine to be on my own Snape…I don't need a ss_sniveling _sssect of sssycophantic ssssissies tailing my every move."

Severus Snape, raised one eyebrow as he made a move toward his wand that was hidden in his robes, then a soft white hand pushed the hand back onto his lap. Lily Evans said,

"He hasn't done anything except give you tit for tat…And besides he wasn't the one who…"

"Shh it's starting…"

Snape shushed Lily with a desperate plea in his voice; Remus knew what they were referring to a prank James had done a few hours ago which revealed to most of the dining hall that Severus Snape wore bright red underwear. Maggie cleared her throat at a small podium; she smiled as she always did, looking out over the whole audience, drawing all of their attention to her.

"For much of magical history there have two major forms of magic, that which uses a wand and that which does not. Here in Europe there is not much conflict between the two and after many years they now live is some harmonious balance. Please, anyone tell me who this is…"

With a flick of her wand, Maggie brought a projector to life and it flashed a giant image onto the roof of the tent. In the image was the picture of a statue, which was in the form of a seated woman. Her face was almost completely worn off and a bird that sat perched on top of the throne was broken at the head. She held out one hand for another stone bird to sit upon and a third sat on her shoulder, seeming to whisper into her ear. A small snake was coiled around her arm and a larger one with vicious teeth lay coiled around her feet, its neck stomped by her foot. In her other hand, which rested on the throne she held a silver apple, engraved with a star and the word "crionnacht" set in gold. From the looks of the picture the statue had been broken in half, burned, buried then put back together again.

Silence filled the tent as students analyzed the picture; suddenly a hand went up from the crowd below Remus, a short red-headed Gryffindor stood as Maggie gestured for her to speak.

"Tha's Cleena."

"How can you tell?"

"She's got three birds…and tha' word on th' apple is wisdom in Irish."

"Very astute of you…yes, you are right, Cleena, or Cliodhna as she is called here in Britain, is the statue portrayed here. Cleena has three magical birds whose song could cure people; she herself could cure almost any sickness with a variety of potions, enchantments and was influential in developing the 12 core properties of moondew. She developed and codified, almost single-handedly, the field of Animagiology. However, you forgot a few major details to mention… Cleena was the brightest sorceress of her age, so don't you think she would have a wand, rather than three birds, a snake and an apple?"

Remus looked at the picture through and through, _of course that's what was missing_. Before he could say something Snape raised his hand and stood up, he seemed oddly interested in what was being said, when usually during lessons he could be seen writing in his books, paying no attention to the teachers at all. This time, however he stood and looking intently at the picture spoke in an unwavering voice,

"Isn't that because she was a Druidess? They couldn't use wands, like we did."

"That is true, she was a druidess and druids in the past did not know much about wands, and few used them successfully. But with the skill Cliodhna had she would have been one of those few druids to use one. In fact she was among the last European druids; at her time wand magic was beginning to take over the continent, mostly by the works of one group. Can anyone tell me which?"

Silence fell, over the crowd, no one remembered even a fraction of history, and most could only remember what daydream they were having or what doodle was passed around during Professor Binns's class when they talked about the medieval period of magic. Maggie raised her eyebrow disapprovingly and began to shake her head as she opened her mouth, just then someone interrupted her.

"The Order of Merlin."

The crowd turned their heads to see Dumbldore leaning against table, his arms crossed and his face appearing rather amused. The blue phoenix cooed as he stroked it in its cage, its shimmering dark feathers glistening in the projector's light. Maggie startled by the appearance of the great wizard, blushed and had to recompose herself.

"Don't worry child, I am merely observing and you are doing a bang-up job."

"Thank you professor…and… and you are quite correct naturally, the…the Order of Merlin was a group of British wizards who advocated the primary use of wands over other magic forms. They came into power a few years before Cliodhna reached her peak and with their intervention outlawed, banned and punished druidic practices in England, Scotland and France, to the point that the entire knowledge of the druids was almost lost. Cliodhna was the last of their opponents, and until her dying breath she taught children the Druidic practices in defiance of the edicts laid out by the Order. Because of her prestige and honor they could not touch her in her native Ireland, but she died, curiously drowned by a wave at the shores of Glendale, much the same way Queen Maeve died alone in a dark forest. After she died however and the Order took over Ireland, her memory and schools were eradicated and burned down; any who mentioned the name of Cliodhna or Maeve in reverence were punished and branded as stubborn anti-progressionists. This statue is all that remains of her major school in the Isle of Tir Tairngire, found at the excavation by muggle archaeologists and recovered by Bathilda Bagshot in 1932."

Students looked to Dumbledore who twisted his beard with a flourish, but said nothing, smiling as some of the teachers and students turned red. Remus was having a hard time coming to grips with this too. As far as he knew the Order of Merlin was one of the greatest organizations in all of English history, wizards and witches from all around the world admired its founders and sought to become one of its select members. Why would people desire to be part of a group with a history like that? Dumbledore wasn't like that, and he was high up in the Order…Remus realized that as he was thinking Maggie had spoken some more and was calling someone from the crowd up onto the podium. The person wore a brown robe, lined with animal furs and his long straight jet-black hair was wound up into a braided ponytail that hung heavily down his back. The Jaguar boy looked so different than he did when he first arrived; he did not wear a loincloth but proper clothes. He also wore a fedora with a feathered coronet on the crown and a silver buckle on the right side. He looked actually like a man this time, not a boy, his stern face, was smiling but not that impish smile he had a few days ago. He spoke, and his voice was musical, almost sensuous, at least that's what Lily said.

"Thank you Senorita LeFaer, and good afternoon to all of you. My name is Balam Eaglefeather and I am teacher of Magical History and Creatures at La Escuela Mistica de Kukulcan. I am, as Senorita LeFaer told you, a Shaman; a magical person similar to a druid. Shamans are hard to pinpoint in European terms, to us there are five major different kinds of Shaman: the shaman, the healer, the spirit-warrior, the guide or seer and the curandero. The shaman is a person who uses incantations and fire spells, he or she is the highest skilled of our people and has learned many skills throughout his life. The healer is self evident and the spirit-warrior is connected to this role but works to cure a magical illness and fights curses using non-herbal means. The guide or seer leads people through dreams; they see the future or can interpret signs in the present. And lastly the curandero is a combination of many of these traits. He or she uses the skills of the healer but can see things others cannot, they battle the misuses of magic and protect those who have no magical abilities, whom you call muggles. These traits are inborn among our people and other people have other names for them and the lines are blurred between them..."

"But what makes you different…from wizards."

Lilly stood up and, clutching her book, she held her hand up, almost impatiently, waving it for him to see. He looked up at her and looked at Maggie, he smiled, that same wry smile he had given her before, the kind that Remus didn't like. Remus felt a strong dislike for this man with the yellow eyes; even though he was dressed up and groomed he was still wild, or at least his eyes said that.

"We, by and large, do not use wands, other than this there is little to no difference between our people. We still make potions, and we still study herbs and magical creatures. The Aztec and Mayan shaman were excellent arithmancers and astronomers, the Anazazi were skilled at hiding spells, much like you and your people."

"But how do you function properly…without wands?"

A tall Hufflepuff boy stood up, he looked at Dumbledore who merely nodded calmly, but seemed more interested in the dialogue that had begun to form. Balam, the jaguar man only smiled and chuckled, he had been prepared for questions like this.

"How do you function without them? If I am correct, many of you cannot yet practice magic outside of school and some of your parents, in living within, ah how you say "muggle" society, function without magic for long stretches of time…Does this make you any less of a wizard? Or does it make you half of one? No! On the contrary a wand does not make you a wizard your ability to use one does, whether or not you use it! So is the same with us, we do not use a wand, but we still use magic in our everyday lives, does this make us less than a wizard or just another type?"

His tone seemed jovial but also crass and proud, pretty soon Remus found himself standing up before the entire crowd, glaring at the Jaguar man. His chest was pounding and images of the man smiling at Maggie were flooding his mind.

"Can you use them though, if you wanted to?"

Balam looked up at Remus and sighed, he said rather plainly,

"It is a skill among our people that takes years of intense study to master, few ever reach that ability…just as you take years to master wandless magic. By now means do we…"

"So you can't?" Remus interjected. He couldn't control himself at this point, somewhere in the back of his mind a tiny voice was telling him to sit down and let the man explain, but this primal blood curdling rage was pumping in his ears. He was determined to undermine this man…for what he didn't know.

"No… not as you can, but it is not a matter of can or can't; Shamans and Wizards are two separate types of people, one is not comparable to the other."

"So you're like Centaurs, or Fairies? Like another species?"

"We are human, just like you."

" Yeah, well I can use a wand; most humans can any way."

Talk began to circulate around the assembly, some looked at Remus with curious faces, others seemed angered and few looked at him with smiles on their faces, sadly they sat next to Snape. Maggie stepped out from where she was and looked up into the crowd, seeing Remus she glared at him. Her eyes were bloodshot red, and her smile that lovely smile was gone and was replaced by a fierce expression of hatred. Her fists were clenched and she shouted with a loud hoarse voice,

"This…this session is over, please go outside and wait for the presentation to…to begin."

People stood silent for a moment, not know what was going on. Maggie, with some unknown ability made her voice reverberate through the entire tent and beyond. Like a massive horn it resounded through the students ears,

"I said, OUT!!"

People rushed out of the tent and Remus felt Peter pull him away, he had sweated through his robes and his legs would not budge. He just stared at Maggie for the longest time; the realization of what he had said and done cementing him to the ground. As he was being pulled out of the tent he heard the Jaguar-man say in a defeated and disappointed tone,

"I expected more out of them…I suppose I was too foolish."

Remus would have pushed his way through and apologized but the jaguar man rushed out of the other side of the tent and left Maggie standing alone for a few brief moments. She looked at Remus straight in the eye and pointed her wand at the tent opening. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, her tomatoey-red face seemed so forlorn that it seemed as though she would scream and terrorize everyone there like a banshee. Almost immediately the tent sealed up before Remus and no sign of entry could be seen anymore that day.

* * *

_ heliothanata- helios- Greek for sun; othanata- undying, immortal._


	7. Things get tense

_Sorry about the long absence from all my fanfics, school was a b and didn't have much time. However that should be amelliorated this summer. Here is the next installment of my forray into Harry's world. It still takes place in the Marauder's time period, as will the next chapters. I had planned to continue with the major plot introduced in the beginning but am finding a hard way to transition from these memories, so I have settled on remaining in Remus's past for the time being until a moment presents itself. Please read and review when you get the inkling, I shall try to be more adept at posting the story as it comes to me from the muses. _

As he stood in front of the tent a shrill voice of one Matilda Burrows taunted him from behind,

"Why Remmie I didn't know you had it in you…You sure showed that half-breed his place."

The others in Snape's gang laughed and guffawed, Remus, still feeling hot in his blood Remus pointed his wand at Matilda's already pimple-ridden face and uttered a boilistrus curse, which had the profound effect of causing a mass explosion of each red spot on her face. She cried out as puss streamed down her face, Severus aimed his wand and fired,

"Expellearmus!!"

Just as he said it a loud voice shouted,

"Protego!"

Severus's spell flew away from its target and hit a boiling cauldron nearby. The black urn churned with a clang and emptied its green fumes onto the ground. James came from out of the crowd and stood between Severus and Remus, aiming his wand pointedly at Snape and his gang; he had a smirk on his lips and a sneer in his nose.

"Well Snivellus, I thought our little _discussion_ in the Grand Hall would have taught you not to go after my friends…I guess your slower than I gave you credit for. Maybe I'll have to teach you again…"

"You caught me off guard then Potter, I won't let that happen again."

Just as Snape made a move to raise his wand he felt a prick on the back of his neck and he was suddenly lifted off the ground, spun in a circle and fell on his behind with a loud thud. Standing behind him was Sirius and he laughed his high toned cackle; Snape's friends ducked into the crowd, none of them wanting to duel with the pair, leaving him alone to his customary fate. The only one left was Lily Evans and she pushed Sirius out of her way violently and knelt beside Snape, raising her wand and pointing it at James. James and Sirius brought their wands to their sides and James said,

"Get off him Evans, we have no beef with you…He tried to attack Remus!"

"And Remus attacked Matilda…besides you were willing to fight the others."

"I don't want to hurt you Lil"

Sirius said as he raised his wand again, pointing at Snape's bruised nose.

"Expelliarmus!"

Lily's spell hurled Sirius's wand up in the air and caused it to land right at her feet. She turned her attention to James and said,

"Back off Potter, you know I can still wipe the floor with you!"

"Yeah? You and what army?"



"Us of course."

That challenge came from Helena as she stood pointing her wand directly at James, grinning from ear to ear; Lily's other friends, June, Selena and Cassandra had already drew their wands, looking a little scared but still determined to defend Lily. James backed off and placed his wand back in his coat, he raised his hands and smiled,

"Alright Evans, you win. I wouldn't dare attack the Sisters of Mercy."

The Sisters of Mercy is what many people called Lily and her friends, mostly because they tended to defend everything, from the house elves to the fairies that tended the garden; no one knew of the more sinister history the name portended. He knelt to pick up Sirius's wand and bowed before the girls standing before him. June, Selena and Cassie all giggled as he smirked at them, his roughish looks getting the better of them; Helena remained undaunted and Lily helped Snape to his feet rolling her eyes.

"One day Potter, that smile will get you expelled or worse."

The crowd already lost interest and began to disperse, as they did so Professor McGonagall appeared in the thinning crowd and crossed her arms, tapping her foot and clearing her throat. All those gathered bowed their heads and waited for her judgment. She spoke softly at first, and it was in this stern voice that she held every authority she had and it was quite a lot.

"Never have I seen Hogwart's students act in such a manner, and if front of guests! Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape I do believe we talked about this, shall I have you both clean the grand hall again?"

Both young men with whispering voices responded,

"No professor."

"And you Miss Evans, I did not expect you to raise your wand at anyone, even in defense of a friend. We are not blaggards or boors, and yet that is what everyone from America and India have seen thus far; this will reflect poorly on this school. They have come here expecting the school that is envy of the world and instead they see a misshapen mot of miscreants whose first reaction is to whip out their wands and ask questions later! I must say I am thoroughly disappointed."

She let out a sigh and stood among them, she looked Remus up and down and then continued,

"Each one of you will cost your houses 20 points and you Mr. Lupin…"

She looked at him with a pointed glare,

"For insulting a member, nay a teacher from another country in a public forum shall be docked 100 points and are forbidden from entering the quidditch pitch until further notice."

James raised his voice in protest,



"Professor…"

"Before you raise your voice to me Mr. Potter, be glad I didn't banish you all from this assembly, because Merlin knows I really should have. I think losing well over 200 points for Gryffindor should have taught you all a lesson, but I can arrange to be a tad bit more severe? Besides that would mean you miss the quodpot tournament and I wouldn't want that now would I?"

She raised her eyebrow and walked away, with students parting before her in waves; James turned one Remus and snorted before walking away. Remus was going to go follow him but Sirius stopped him saying,

"Let him go mate, he's got to relieve some steam."

Lily and her gang walked off in the opposite direction, Severus nursing his broken nose and rump. Remus sat down on a rock and covered his face, Sirius looked down at him and then at Peter, who by this time looked more clueless than anyone. Sirius sat beside Remus and after a while said,

"What happened? You've never gone off like that, I mean I admire the sudden growth in a spine but Burrows is always talk, why'd you have to go make her face blow up like that!"

"It's…It's Maggie…she right pissed at him."

"Shut up Peter! Stay out of it!"

Remus stood suddenly and glared down at the pudgy boy below him; Sirius pushed him back and said sternly,

"Oi, sit back down! He's done nothing wrong and you've been on edge a lot lately, with no full moon in sight! Is this only because of some girl?"

"She hates me Sirius all because of _him_…"

"Who? Snape?"

"No, Eaglefeather…self-righteous sod with his…smile."

Sirius chuckled, and said,

"Is that all? Look mate, you think insulting people is gonna get you the girl then you're way off. Maggie's got a heart of gold and can't stand all that elitist bullocks; I know, she used to hate coming to my house with Helena, and spent the whole time sulking and insulting my mum, which was a treat but still…Look she's nothing if not forgiving. Just say you're sorry and that you felt sick…I'm sure she'll ease up on you."

"I doubt that."



They turned their heads to where the strange voice emerged from the tent, Maggie stood tall before them, straightening her dress and hat. She had a handkerchief in her had that was wet and dirty with running eyeliner. Her face was stern and flawless, save for the redness in her eyes. Remus stood and looked at Maggie in the eye, trying to mouth the words, but she cut him off before he said anything,

"You insulted a very dear friend of mine Mr. Lupin, but it's not me who you should be apologizing to. And you, Mr. Black…if you keep thinking that simply saying 'I'm sorry' will win over a girl then you will be single for a _very long time._"

Maggie stormed off to the central arena, where a large crowd was there awaiting the demonstration. The boys looked at each other and began to walk back toward the castle without a word, then in the distance they caught sight of James talking to Professor Eaglefeather. He seemed to be pleading with him but the stone-faced man said nothing in return, only looking at Remus from afar. Not having any effect, James walked off dejected and strode to his friends; Remus was about to say something but James said instead.

"Don't worry about me Mooney, we're still mates. I was trying to tell him that you weren't yourself today but he didn't seem interested. I'm sorry."

Remus nodded his head and looked down at the Quidditch pitch below. A young dark skinned woman was giving a lesson in fire breathing and was amazing the crowd with her ability to breathe fires of different colors from her mouth to her open palm, before sending them shooting into the sky. He turned to where Professor Eaglefeather had stood but he was gone by then. The four friends instead spent the rest of the day in the Grand Hall studying for Professor Binn's midterm exam on the Goblin Wars, saying nothing, at least until Sirius broke the silence with a well placed burp that echoed through the entire hall.

_June, Selena, and Cassandra- all made up for now, may add more detail on their significance._

_Sisters of Mercy- more will be elaborated on much later in the story. _


	8. Quodpot!

_Thank you all for your patience, I am terribly sorry about the long time in between postings. I have not been on vacation just the past few months have been extremely hectic. The free time I had resulted in my writing not only for this story but others as well. I will be posting the next three chapters to this story. The time period is still in the time of the marauders, and might return to the time period surrounding Harry and his friends much later on, but we shall see how that goes. Just think of these next few chapters as a very long flashback lol. _

* * *

Three weeks had passed since Remus last saw the Quidditch Pitch after his melt down; the air was buzzing with excitement, today was the first day in the quodpot tournament that would last the whole year. James had made it onto the American team despite never having learned the game ever before and by the special order of Professor McGonagall Remus was allowed to watch, sitting right next to her. He liked her alright as a teacher but it was downright shameful to have to sit next to a teacher when he damn well wanted to sit with Sirius and Peter. But this was the only way she would let him watch and besides he could then ask one of the American teachers to explain the game; James did a horrid job of trying to.

From what he could tell quodpot was a twisted version of quidditch, instead of a snitch or even bludgers there was one ball, the quaffle. But it wasn't shaped like a proper quaffle; it was longer, more like a dragon's egg, and was heavier also; that and it exploded causing the quodpoters to have to wear padded uniforms made of dragon skin and flexobindo, a stretchy substance made of the enchanted rubber of a South-American tree- the effect of which was to leave nothing to the imagination and made the players look like the torso of a troll was placed on the legs of a goblin. James looked right ridiculous in it, but the girls like the pants on him, and always made him blush when he walked down the halls in them after practice.

Professor McGonagall led him up the teacher's tower and sat him hard upon the bench next to her, to his right sat Headmistress Bishop, whose stern and statuesque appearance rivaled Professor McGonagall's after eating a particularly sour pickle from Honeyduke's in Hogsmeade.

"Well hello Alicia! Wonderful day isn't it?"

,said Professor McGonagall, in an unusually chipper tone; the two had formed something akin to a friendship in the past few months and were always walking down the corridors discussing teaching theories and charm spells.

"Fa' too bright fe my taste, but a good day fe Quodpot. Say! Did you read the latest issue of Cha'ming weekly, theh's a good article I thought you would like. Apparently a Dr. Harrow's has invented a new form of transfiguration spell..."

The two blabbed on about things that made Remus's head spin; he saw the players take the field and heard huge roars of applause from the crowd. The towers were full to the brim of people from all the schools, the Indian students looked on slightly interested, they much preferred quidditch or quicktuck, a game from their own lands. Those from the Yucatan were the loudest and were decked out in huge costumes of bright colors, ringing bells and beating their drums; it was their team taking on the Americans, with their new addition of James. The Americans wore the customary uniforms in red, white and blue with their school's crest on the front and helmet: a witches hat with a wand and broom crossing beneath it and a cauldron to the right and lamp to the left, with the letters S,W and I emblazoned over them. The Yucatan students wore nothing like the Americans, instead they wore turquoise-plate armor over their chests and wore shin and arm pads made of a blueish-green dragon skin covered in feathers. On their heads they wore sparkling helmets painted with gold and silver in the shape of eagles and falcons. Other than a blood-red loin cloth they wore nothing else and were even barefoot as they walked onto the field.

Remus could tell they were much more used to playing in heat because all of their players were shivering in their uniforms blowing fire into their hands and rubbing it onto their teammates' arms and legs. The American team chuckled at them as they were warm in their bulky suits and round-topped helmets. Professor McHannon, who Remus had gotten to know before he was banned from the activities, walked into the center of the field wearing black and white robes and her Silver Swan Excell, a silver broom with a green broom end- it sparkled in the noon sun and nearly blinded those in the stands. She called out to the crowd and the players,

"Alright, I want a good clean game; the rules are as follows, nine and only nine of the eleven players are to handle the quaffle during the game, if anyone not in play touches it, it will immediately explode and the offending team loses 50 points, no exceptions. No part of the body is illegal to touch, hold or hit the ball in to the pot at the end of the field, U.S. rules."

The last statement elicited a roar of boos from the Mexican stands and their allies; according to what James had told him the Mexicans and most anyone in South America played quodpot without their hands and only used the joints of their body: elbows, knees, ankles, even hips, though that seemed hard to believe. Raising her hand Professor McHannon called them to silence; she brought forth the quaffle, an egg shaped, stone like object that began to shimmer like a lantern. She continued,

"Each ball thrown into the pot counts for 75 points, if it goes through the hoop on either side of the pot and then into the pot it counts for 200 points. The game ends when the 24th quaffle is thrown into the pot. Players to your brooms! Now let's play QUODPOT!!!"

A great cheer rang through the air and drum beats thundered in the sky, the Americans took to the sky and took the south field, their brooms let out smoke decked out in red, white and blue. Remus could see James's broom among them and on his back a huge Union Jack was sewn on with Potter in bright letters underneath. The Yucatan team took the north field in a burst of green and blue; they moved as one and their brooms were made to look like eagles or tropical birds, the ends not made of straw but of long vibrant bird feathers. Professor McHannon took to the skies in her Silver Swan and brought a whistle to her mouth,

"Captain's to the center!!"

A big burly black boy flew to Professor McHannon and placed his hand on the quaffle, causing it to glow brightly; from the north side of the field a curvy bronze skinned girl, who wore a golden eagle shaped helmet, circled and came to Professor McHannon's side. She too placed her hand on the quaffle and it glowed brighter. They took their hands off of it, and Professor McHannon blew her whistle with a deafening shrill and threw the ball into the air. The two captains ascended to meet it and the game began. A clear voice came through the speakers and Alden Windsmark, a gawky American boy began his commentary:

" And we're off! The Yucatan team takes hold of the first ball as their captain Maya Rodriguez hits it stunningly with her hip. Down it streaks through the south field and is caught by star rounder Martin Bencomo"

Martin Bencomo caught the ball by deflecting it with his arm guards and rounded it towards the pot with his elbows. As it streaked toward the pot the crowd cheered as the first point was about to be scored. Just then James dived and caught the ball with a brilliant spin. The crowd rejoiced in the save; he threw the ball high into the air and punted it with his helmet.

"What a brilliant display by Hogwart's own James Potter, that's using your head eh Potter? Captain Jack Park of Salem holds fast onto it under his arms and charges down the field. Look at those green suits flying out of his way…I guess that's what comes with wearing no proper uniform! Wait a minute, Cristina Luna isn't moving out of his way! Goblin's gut she just kicked the ball out of his death grip and then flipped around him holding onto the quaffle tightly with her knees…man what a death grip there!"

The girl, whose long train of black hair whipped in back of her like a tail, wound her way through the field dodging the other Americans. Seven Americans surrounded her, before she passed it downward to a teammate waiting for her to drop it. He grabbed it with his own knees and with a spin tossed it toward the pot in a sharp curve. It rounded the field and bounced off the Ravenclaw tower; James reached for it but it flew right past him and landed into the cauldron with a giant splash. The cauldron shoot out a blue firework and Alden Windsmark let out a reluctant sigh,

"Yucatan scored the first goal in the game with a liberty drop pass by runners Cristina Luna and Marcos Zamarron, 50 to nill now, Yucatan leads!"

Professor McHannon blew her whistle and the two teams flew back to their respective fields; she handed James another quaffle and let her whistle shriek again. He pulled the ball directly behind his head and threw it far down the South field. The game continued, this time more violent than before. Immediately after catching it an almost pink skinned American, Trey O'Donnell, barreled into Marcos Zamarron, using a clothesline with his arm stretched out, causing him to fall off his broom. The crowd cried out in fear as Marcos toppled off his broom heading for the ground headfirst and unconscious; the pink skinned player flied onward while two Yucatan players streak downward to catch their teammate. Two others flanked Trey O'Donnell and force him to crash into another tower, he throws the quaffle up into the air and it is caught by his teammate Jessica Trevor.

Zamarron and the other two team mates form a triangle and charge into her immediately as she catches it. The game goes on and the excitement causes almost endless, boo's, owww's and curses from both sides of the field. Windsmark lost track of what was going on, as at one point Maya Rodriguez was pushed into the teacher's box by Park, landing on Windsmark both toppling to the ground.

Her helmet fell off and rolled over to Remus's feet. As she stood, she ignored the pleas of Windsmark to get off his microphone and just about jumps off the tower, red-faced and flushed with anger.

"Hey!"

Remus shouted, picking up her helmet and handing it to her; silently she looked him up and down and nodded in thanks. She took the helmet from him and picked up her broken broom; she scoffed and threw it aside. She leaned over the side, inspecting the field below; with a wink and a smile she nodded at Remus and leapt from the tower. In fear Remus ran to the edge of the tower only to see the Yucutan captain catching a ride with Zamarron who swept past just in that moment. The crowd cheered joyfully at the spectacle, despite the fact that in that moment Park scored another 75 points with a side swipe, whatever that was. The two flew on the same broom for the rest of the game, working seamlessly as one, Zamarron piloting and Rodriguez handling the ball with her hips (a crowd favorite) or her elbows.

As the 24th pot was scored, Professor McHannon blew her whistle and announced that the Americans had won 1225 to 1200. The crowd, who had clearly enjoyed the spectacle of the Yucatan team sighed in disbelief; when James raised his hands in victory all of Hogwart's cheered him on chanting his name. Remus smiled and cheered loudly before Professor McGonagall pulled him from the edge of the tower, reminding him to head back down to his quarters. Suddenly his spirit was dropped, he had wanted to see the victory celebration that was to take place in the pitch immediately after or at least congratulate James.

"Professor, please can't I just stay for a little while…I promise I'll serve a double detention tomorrow, I'll even give Mr. Nelly a bath,…"

Mr. Nelly was Filtch's cat, who hated water in all forms; even if someone was drinking it in front of him he would leap up and scratch the daylights out of their face, trying to scare away the offending liquid from his presence. Professor McGonagall frowned and looked at him with a sympathetically pitiful expression, almost wanting to give in to her more emotive tendencies.

"I'm sorry Mr. Lupin, a punishment is a punishment and I've already allowed you to enter the pitch. What lesson could be learned by allowing you to enjoy an evening of celebration…"

Remus lowered his head and nodded, that's partially the reason why he liked Professor McGonagall; despite her own leanings she followed the rules, a lot like him at times. Just then a voice interrupted her as she was talking,

"Perhaps the lesson he would learn is that people can still be forgiven, regardless of what they have done…and that forgiveness is the most important lesson of all."

Turning to the voice both McGonagall and Remus were surprised by Professor Eaglefeather standing before them, beside Maya Rodriguez. McGonagall tried to speak but Professor Eagelfeather continued,

"After all Minerva, it was not you that Mr. Lupin offended, it was me; I should have been the one to confront him."

Standing tall before Remus, Professor Eaglefeather smiled and looked at Professor McGonagall square in the eye,

"I think three weeks is enough, don't you? Mr. Lupin will not have any trouble with the other shamans, Maya will see to that. If you would be so willing to allow him to enjoy his friend's victory, I think it will solidify the lesson in his mind."

Professor McGonagall smiled and nodded her head, within an instant Maya grabbed Remus's hand and led him from the teacher's tower; he barely had time to say a quick thank you to both teachers. They ran to the field, but Remus stopped and asked Maya,

"Why did he do that, after the way I treated him?"

"Because you helped me…even though you didn't have to. Even shamans can see when they have been too quick to judge. Besides, what your friend told us about you, helped a lot."

Remus was first surprised by the girl's accent, it was obviously American and sounded nothing like Professor Eaglefeather's thick Spanish one.

"What friend?"

"The Lefaer girl…"

"Oh"

Remus smiled like a little boy in a candy store, Maggie wasn't mad at him anymore, more than this she actually tried to help him, things were beginning to look up for him, finally. He found Peter among the crowd cowering behind Sirius as they forced their way toward James in the center of a huge crowd of people. Remus led Maya towards them; they were stuck behind fat old Mudgut Parkinson when an authoritative voice came forth,

"Oi, let them through Muddie!"

As the big seventh year shuffled aside they saw James in all his glory, surrounded by girls from Salem and Hogwarts, each one begging to go to Hogsmeade with them. He stood and embraced his friends, rejoicing in the victory; that evening they celebrated their victory with a dinner in the grand hall and a small party in the Gryffindor common room, where both Yucutan and Salem teams were invited. The EMK students played loud and brash music in the common room and it caused even the paintings on the walls to seem more festive. The seasons passed on after that day, subtle fall gave way to blistering winter; it would be a whole month and a half before Remus saw Maggie again. During the weekly lessons held in the quidditch pitch she was strangely absent, off on an errand as the students were told. Helena didn't say much to Remus when he asked her, only that her grandmother called her away on very important business.


	9. Dreams & Reconciliation

Fall was left behind and the time for snow began, at first it was slow and only a few inches a day would fall. The students from the EMK had to find more cloaks and sweaters to compensate for the cold winter air. With Hagrid as their guide many went into the forest and hunted for skins; some students made fun of them and what were called their rustic ways, but James saw to it that the remarks were made in quiet and for once in his life earned some degree of respect from Lily and her gang.

Maggie had returned from her leave as the year began to draw on. Christmas holidays were fast approaching and Remus was finally looking forward to spending the holidays back at home, which he had to miss last year because of fears of his mother's safety. The new laws placed upon werewolves and their families were beginning to turn from normal annoyances to actual impediments. The newest law made in the times of war was that any werewolf above the age of 15 was not allowed within 20 feet of a wizard's home, 50 if they lived in a muggle neighborhood during the time of their changing. If it were not for the staff at Hogwarts and the other Marauders he would have gone insane, or worse. The festival atmosphere never left the school and the qoudpot tournament was in full swing; the Salem students proved to be too good of teachers as the Amarnath students beat them in their first game in early December.

Remus, found himself going to lectures given by Professor Eaglefeather more and more; once he gave him a chance, Remus found that the shaman knew more than his age assumed. He learned more about the different magical animals of the world in one of Eaglfeather's classes than he had an entire year at Hogwarts. Many went to see the lunar phoenix that sat on Professor Eaglefeather's shoulder during the entire lesson. This phoenix was not like Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix; it was smaller, a bluish-green color and had a long blue tail that was highlighted by silver tips. When it would fly a blue haze would fill the room, like twilight. Maggie often sat in on Professor Eaglfeather's lectures and she even began saying hello to Remus as he passed by to his regular Hogwart's classes. Helena was still with her and would often walk him to class; she was growing into her body more and Remus would often hear whistles and cat calls from other boys as the two of them passed. Yet Helena didn't seem to hear them, she just kept blabbering on about their family estate in France. Remus didn't mind her company, and when Lily would tag-along he even found some ways of having a pleasant conversation with her, that is until the subject of James or Severus came up. The nights of his full moon disappearances were the only thing he could not bear to endure, because it meant sneaking through a hidden hallway that always seemed to change location. He also would have to be away from his friends and Maya also began asking questions when she asked if he would join her for a stroll during the full moon. Dreams also began to plague him more and more, and he would often wake up in a cold sweat screaming and tearing at his sheets.

One night, as the cold bitter wind howled against the window beside his bed, Remus tossed and turned in an uneasy dream.

_As he slept Remus dreamt of walking down a long flowing river with Maggie, under the light of a full moon._ _He was of course much older, taller and strikingly handsome and wasn't wearing rags for robes. She was splendid in a blue gown, her raven hair in a long train down her back. They held each other's hands softly, and she laid her head on his shoulders playfully nuzzling his neck. Children were playing in the distance running alongside the river banks; Maggie was saying something to him but he couldn't keep his eyes off of her mouth and eyes. She said something funny and was laughing, her mouth wide and ruby red amid the white snow that was her face. He was so enthralled by her musical laughter he barely noticed a bush thrashing this way and that in the distance. He whipped out his wand as the shadow crept out into the moonlight. Standing before them was a tall lanky creature on all fours, wolf-like but contorted and misshapen. Remus shouted, _

_"You're not going to get her, do you hear me?! I'd rather die than let you get her!!"_

_The werewolf laughed and stood on two legs, he spoke with a voice that sounded like his only rougher like sandpaper had been taken to it. _

_"You may be able to protect her from me but these will never be safe."_

_The wolf leaped on the children and grabbed them in his huge, monstrous claws. Remus cried out,_

_"NOOO!"_

_He lifted his wand and tried to fire a spell, but nothing happened, he tried again but with each attempt the wolf got larger and began to eat the children whole. Remus turned to Maggie and she just stood there, covered in blood, holding a child in her hands. Her eyes were distant watching the scene before her but not taking it in. _

_"Maggie, my wand's not working! Do something, save them!!!"_

_"Nothing I do can save them Remus… this is their destiny. "_

_"No, I'll stop him, I'll save our children!!! "_

_As he turned he saw that the creature was gone and that he held the children in his hands, bloodied and limp; he fell to his knees and turned to Maggie. She stood silent watching the full moon; she faced him and an invisible wind made her robes flow behind her like a blue flame in the wind. The red blood stains on her dress turned vibrant red almost like they were glowing, and she wailed into the night sky like a creature wailing its last breaths. Her hair flew up in a raging storm and she was surrounded by a blinding misty light before fading away in a whiff of cloud and mist. Remus tried calling her name but all that was left of her was a blue rose growing out of the ground, marred by blood. _

When he woke up that next morning his pillow was sweated over and James, Sirius and Peter were all looking at him, frightened. They told him that he spent the whole night screaming and scratching at anything that would touch him. In an attempt to cheer him up they invited him to go to Hogsmeade with them, but he refused saying that he felt sick. But he didn't feel sick, he felt horrified; he had never dreamed of even having children and the one dream he had they were mauled to death and he couldn't do anything about it. But why couldn't Maggie do anything? Why did she just stand there and disappear? He got dressed and decided to go for a walk to Hagrid's house, maybe the cold winter air would do him some good, and Hagrid was always willing to let him rant about things until he came up with his own interpretation or solutions, saying only a supportive "There yah go, I 'new ye could do it!" The school was strangely silent for a Saturday, even the first years were holed up in their beds, sleeping in from the cold bitter air. As he neared the Forbidden Forest, he saw Maggie stooping to pick some winter flowers by the stone garden. She was dressed simply in a thick over coat and was wearing a man's top hat with a blue feather inside it; a red rose was pinned to her coat flap and when she caught sight of Remus she smiled and waved him over.

Reluctantly he moved toward her and greeted her guardedly; he did not know what to do. Usually when he was around a girl they were asking him about homework or the relationship status of James or Sirius and in the one off chance, Peter. But Maggie wasn't asking about homework and he hoped she would not ask about his friends; instead she stood there silent, listening to the wind. Just as he was about to turn and leave she spoke,

"I 'ad a dream last night RJ…"

Remus stopped where he was, she called him RJ in her letter, perhaps it was her way of signifying that they were equals, problem was he didn't know what to call her so he said,

"Oh?"

"I was walking down a large clear river…you were there with me, and we were holding hands. I know it sounds preposterous, but I think we were married. "

She laughed, like the sound of silver bells it fell musically on Remus' ears; she began to walk towards the forbidden forest and he followed her, blithely unaware of where they were going. She continued about her dream which was quite frankly sunnier than his.

"Can you imagine you and me married? It would be quite the scandal no?"

"Why would it be a scandal?"

He chuckled and felt more at ease with himself around her. It was almost like he was talking to Angie Palmer, a short Hufflepuff girl who was the only girl to show no interest in any boy in quite the same way the others did; she was a favorite of the boys though because her dad was on the Irish quidditch team.

"Because, you are a child!"

Remus felt his spirits fall just a little bit, he had forgotten their age difference, but in truth five years wasn't that whole large of a difference. His mum and dad were 7 years apart, but they married late in life. Maggie seemed farther in age than she really was, Helena did too, maybe it was a family thing; being raised by an old woman had to have its disadvantages. As they continued they found themselves by a rather wide brook, next to a fallen tree. Looking toward the south Remus could see a tall building standing in the distance…it was the Shrieking Shack. He shivered as he saw it, the movement made her question,

"Are you frightened by this house?"

"No…just, it's haunted."

He looked for any excuse to stop talking about the house where he spent sleepless nights every month. He didn't want to show her any indication or connection to that place. She shrugged and said rather plainly,

"Hogwarts is haunted…besides, ghosts can do nothing to us, so why fear them? The same with curses…we give them power and can take it away just as easily."

She sat on the log dangling her feet over the brook, Remus looked at her and back at the house, he then said in a whisper,

"What about werewolves…Is that all in the head too?"

She turned to look at him but a rustle in the leaves called to their attention. Remus drews his wand and Maggie jumped from the log and stood firmly in the cold brook, her robe soaked at the edge. Her wand drawn eagerly and firmly, she placed herself in front of Remus guarding him as he had guarded her in his dream. Suddenly he realized that the scene was exactly the same, down to the river and the sound of the rustling bush, in some kind of morbid déjà vu. In the shadow of the forest the rustling got louder and the sound of heavy breathing could be heard. Entering the light was a black haired girl walking beside a huge black jaguar with bright yellow eyes. Maggie lowered her wand and sighed relief; Helena looked and smiled at Remus, waving hello as the Jaguar stood upon two legs and straightened out into the form of a tall dark-skinned man, shaking the snow from his long coat.

"Buenos Dias, Senorita Lefaer! It is a happy circumstance that we meet you here. I found Helena wandering the dark places of the forest; I thought an escort would be the _responsible_ thing to do."

He winked at Maggie and she smiled wryly at him, stepping aside to reveal Remus standing there.

"Apparently we both found students in need."

Professor Eaglefeather tipped his black fedora in Remus's direction, the long quail feather attached to it made a figure eight in the air and snow was shaken off the top. Helena ran up to Maggie and gave her sister a hug, complete with a French peck on each cheek. They exchanged words in French, which Remus was not able to decipher; he had forgotten that the LeFaer sisters grew up in France, because they spoke English with only a minimal accent. Helena said something rather off color as Maggie slapped her on the shoulder laughing,

"Mon Dieu Helen! Not with him here!"

The two sisters, acting like teenage girls strolled off arm in arm in the direction of Hogsmeade, beckoning Remus and Professor Eaglefeather to follow them. Patting him on the shoulder the shaman professor led Remus out of the forest; at first they walked in silence but as the sun began to shine through the leaves Professor Eagelfeather spoke,

"Did you enjoy my lecture on dementors Remus?"

"Oh yes I did…what is it that you call them where you're from, Professor?"

"Pukuj, and please, while class is not in session you can call me Tomas."

"Why?"

"I have never been comfortable being called Professor, it makes me feel…well, old."

"But you are…"

Remus caught himself before he said any worse, in case he insulted himself more, but the young man laughed loudly and placed his hand on Remus's shoulder, in much the same way Dumbledore did.

"Yes I suppose 6 years is _old_ to one as young as you. But I find that the mere title of Professor doesn't automatically give you respect…it is our actions that do that. So until I've earned your respect you may call me Tomas."

Helena who had been listening to their conversation turned around and said playfully,

"I thought your name was Bal."

Tomas Eaglefeather chuckled and said warningly,

"To you and your sister I am Bal, but beware little princess that the jaguar doesn't pounce on you again!"

He made a motion to jump on her and both girls squealed and ran up the steep, snow-covered, hillside into the town. Remus found himself laughing at this exchange, even though he didn't know what it meant entirely. Tomas sighed and began the small hike up the hill, saying,

"Oh by the way Remus…How would you like to learn some shaman magic?"

"What…"

Remus was confused by this sudden turn,

"You have shown yourself to be an apt pupil and Maya always speaks of your interest in our form of magic. I have spoken already with Professor McGonagall, and she is willing to let you skip her classes in lieu of learning alongside my students. All I need is your answer…"

Tomas seemed to grow taller as he stood on the hill, he turned from the laughing young man to a Professor with so much ease it looked simpler than changing from man to jaguar. Remus only nodded his head and marched up the hill and found James and Sirius throwing snowballs at each other in the middle of town. As he left, Professor Eagelfeather waved him goodbye and went with Maggie into the Three Broomsticks, where Professor Dumbledore was waiting with two mugs of steaming cocoa.

* * *

_Note on Maggie's accent, I attempted to keep it going but kept forgetting what she sounded like so I have it in regular English and you can just imagine what she sounds like. Slightly French with an Irish brough inside it. I figured since Helena didn't have one Maggie would be strange with one. My apologies for people who like seeing them written out, I must commend JK for ebing able to do it so consistently. I unfortunately have not developed the patience for it just yet. lol. Onward!!!_

* * *


	10. Remus in the Shaman Fire

_Sorry it has been such a long time since I posted to this story. This story looks like its following Remus's point of view more and more and I have a mind to change the title to something else, if anyone has any suggestions I would like to hear them. As always R&R, thanks. _

* * *

By the time he was making his way to the Forbidden Forest, Remus was beginning to have doubts; he often worried that this was merely a trap to get back at him. Maya was waiting for him right outside the Gryffindor common room, talking to Lily and laughing as though they had been friends for years. Lily smiled when she saw that Remus was alone, apparently Professor McGonagall had allowed a few select students to participate in these extra lessons and Lilly had been learning for the past few weeks.

"Come on then, we're meeting a few other students, and we're already late. "

Maya rushed them down the staircase and led them to the circle of stones that led down the path to Hagrid's hut. Waiting at the snow covered circle silently stood four other students, warming themselves around a fire, holding their arms around themselves, blocking the cold air outside. Among them were the obvious students who out shone everyone else: Helena LeFear, decked head to toe in Ravenclaw blue, right down to the socks that shone brilliantly paired with her black mary janes, Octavian Burroughs from Hufflepuff, who leaned casually against a stone pillar and let his cigarette fall to the floor as the others approached, he was by far the best student in Care of Magical Creatures except for Remus and the two had a somewhat friendly rivalry going for the top spot in the class; Agatha Keller from Salem and Savita Patil the son of Surya Patil the Headmaster from Amarnath. The only one missing from the group was Snape; not that Remus looked forward to seeing him, he just found it odd that he was not there when it seemed to Remus that he followed Lily wherever she went.

"I notice Snape isn't joining us," said Remus, attempting to be nonchalant, but he couldn't contain the smile under his scarf.

Lily's face twitched disapprovingly, she closed her arms tighter around her,

"No, Severus isn't joining us. He has other _priorities_. Besides, I don't need him to do anything that I want to do."

Her last comment had a bite to it that seemed to reveal certain bitterness to it. There was a tense moment then as they were walking and Remus, wanting to quickly change the subject turned to Maya and said the first thing that came to his head.

"So what part of Mexico do you come from Maya?"

"I don't."

She said frankly, she smiled wryly at him and seeing his puzzled look she huffingly said,

"I was born and raised outside of Flagstaff, Arizona in the States. My mom was a _curandera_ and my dad was a wizard; I was supposed to go to Three Rivers in New Mexico but they wouldn't let me in because they didn't think I could use a wand. And so, despite my dad's best efforts I went to the only place that accepted shamans…and frankly I think I'm better off."

"Why do you say that?"

,said Helena, quixotically, who had by this time had joined in the conversation.

"Well, the way I see it, my mom is one of the last of her kind in Arizona, and this is my way of carrying on her legacy and her people's teachings."

"Don't you ever wonder what it would have been like to use a wand?"

"Sometimes, when I go back home and talk to my friend Chance who goes to Three Rivers, but he's fascinated by what I'm learning so I guess it goes both ways."

She had just finished saying this when they saw Professor Eaglefeather standing a little ways away at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he had few clothes on except for a red loin cloth, boots made of a blue dragon skin and a richly embroidered cape, wrapped with a knot over his left shoulder and allowed to drape down. His posture had his fists resting on his hips opening the cape and revealing the fact that he had only a loin cloth for clothes. The others laughed, and Octavian said under his breath to Agatha,

"If that's what the teachers wear, what do the uniforms look like?"

Remus looked at Professor Eagelfeather again and saw a lean muscular physique that showed signs of a very active life style. His chest was firm and unyielding except when he drew breath, his thighs were large and each muscle seemed to strain to be kept in its skin. His dark skin glistened in the white snow and he showed no signs of even being affected by the chill around him. When they made their way to him he looked down at them and said plainly,

"You're late."

Maya shrugged and walked into the dark forest; as Remus followed he couldn't take his eyes off of Professor's Eaglefeather's face, mostly because he didn't want to look anywhere else, but also because the professor's yellow eyes pierced into him, scanning him in a way he had only felt with Dumbledore- as though every sin he committed and every thought he had was laid bare. Furthermore he remembered those eyes from somewhere, but it was stuck in a haze like a bad memory he never wanted to relive. As they progressed deeper into the woods the winter's chill seemed to pass away; it was then that Remus noticed the distinct color of green up in the branches, the green of newly sprouted oak leaves. He could smell the briar roses beginning to bloom, like spring in March, but it was barely December. The woven branches gave way to a small opening that one had to bend at the waist to go under, by then spring's coolness gave way to summer's heat and the air felt damper, heavy with the moisture of a falling rain. Remus heard the gentle cooing of Professor Eaglefeather's phoenix as it sat on a pine branch picking bugs out of its illumined feathers. He looked up and nearly couldn't believe his eyes. The snow had melted away in that tiny clearing and the air was warm and moist, a heat he had never in all his years felt before. The earth in the clearing responded by awakening a few months too early and bright vibrant flowers were beginning to grow around the edge of the clearing, their bright red and fiery orange blossoms hanging heavily with dew. Remus was standing there with his mouth wide open, hardly realizing that he was sweating straight through his two sweaters. Professor Eaglefeather stood next to him and said matter-of-factly,

"They are called Heliophyla, they grow naturally, like weeds all through central and south America. There are completely useless in potions or spells, unless one grows them in places where it gets cold, for they emit a heat that no water or cold can quench…just a little bit of home for us."

He patted Remus on his heavily soaked back and laughed,

"You may want to remove your sweaters Mr. Lupin, or you'll die of heatstroke."

Remus looked around and saw that Helena, Lily and the others had already dressed out of their winter clothes and left their coats hanging heavily on the outlying branches where snow still fell and melted on the ground- well not exactly melted, more like evaporated on contact. Remus quickly took off both of his sweaters and his over coat and even began loosening his tie; he took his place beside Lily who had wrapped a handkerchief around her head as her hair began to rise and puff up. Professor Eaglefeather stood before them and placed a hand on Maya's shoulder. All the EMK students wore light cotton clothes, and wore a sash of a different color, each one pertaining to their specific training. Along with the sash some wore necklaces of different stones and others held staffs with gourds attached to them. Maya wore a simple tank top and a flowing peasant skirt that reached her ankles. Around her neck she had several charms and one very bright red rosary; her sash, or shall more like, was turquoise and had knotted fringe on the edges where larger colorful beads were attached. She wore simple rope and leather sandals under her rain boots and smiled at Remus as he found himself staring at her. They also had no wands...

"To be a Shaman, is to be a servant to your people; to serve and use your gifts to better the lot of your fellow human beings. Whether that means using potions to cure the sick, or spells to defend the weak; shaman magic comes to those who empty themselves of their own private desires and leave themselves open to the needs of others. Yes we can be born with magic within us, but to use it comes with even greater responsibility; that is why wands are not allowed in this circle. Wands keep us from experiencing the flow of magic through _us_; a wand is a focal point that forces magic to do what you want. But the kind of magic I shall teach you is not to be forced or commanded, but welcomed and invited. You will see many new things my friends, and some of you may experience what we do; I invite you to let go of what you learned, it will not be needed here. Now partner up!"

The EMK students grabbed a wizard or witch by the hand and lead them to a separate part of the circle; Maya came and took Remus's hand leading him to a section of the circle where a small hearth sat emitting a green light that didn't burn the wood. Remus stopped her and asked,

"What's going on?"

"This is how we teach; you aren't going to need that pen and parchment, there is no note taking."

"But how will I remember?"

"You will remember."

,said Maya, in a deep and wise voice, mimicking Professor Eaglefeather by standing tall, chest out and her hands resting on her hips. She broke her character, laughing as she forced him to sit. He looked around and saw that Octavian was sitting with one Shaman boy in a circle of stones inspecting eggs; Lily was beside a girl with long black hair inspecting a hide of a deer, which had paintings upon it, symbols that he had never before seen; Helena was sitting with a young boy beside a fire, just like him, only that the fire sat beneath a simple iron pot and dried herbs hung from a wooden rack beside them. As he looked around he saw Maya reach her hand into the fire. Before he could cry out in shock he saw her grab something and remove it from the fire. The fire went out and followed her hand still burning green and blue, dancing upon her fingers before subsiding in slight waves into a simple polished piece of petrified wood. Maya began by speaking soft and low, slowly relating what it was she wanted to teach him,

"Shaman magic is not taught like wizard magic; there are no books, no pens, no classrooms; only your memory and skill are needed. Balam says that wizards can learn every bit of our magic if they empty themselves of what they know and fully embrace the way we teach them. Not many have been willing to do that, lay aside their wands and learn from us…will you?"

So suddenly did she stop and look directly in his eyes that he was taken aback- she wasn't joking, nor was she angry, she was speaking truth in the most blunt and straight forward manner. He found himself nodding in agreement before he even formed a thought and he placed his wand, literally away from him, along with his pen and parchment. He waited for her to speak but she remained silent for a long time; his foot began to twitch and he opened his mouth,

"Why…?"

"There are no questions."

,she said in a quick and whispered manner.

What she did next was cup her hands in front of her face, taking in a large amount of air through her nose she let out a hollow breath that smoked at first as it exited out of her lips, like breath in the dead of winter. As it coiled around the bowl she made of her hands it sparked and suddenly burned slowly a cool bright pinkish orange and then began to dance brighter and brighter changing from pink to yellow to the most beautiful sky blue Remus had ever seen. The light blue flame wasn't like the fire in the pit; it stayed smoldering upon her skin, the tongues only dancing a few centimeters off of her fingers and wrists. It spread slowly from the bowl in her hands and wrapped itself in small circular lines around her fingers and over flowed to the back of her hand like water. It then danced from her delicate wrists to her round and firm forearms before quickly ascending to her shoulders where the two lines met at her neck pouring down from the nape of her neck around and meeting directly above her heart.

Once the two rivers of flame had done that, the fire seemed to burst out of her skin covering her whole body in a light film of sky-blue flame, the base of which shone like a brilliant morning star. The fire hung on every curve of her body, dancing at every edge; her straight jet black hair seemed to levitate off her shoulders and the tips burned a cool silver white and when the fire would dance to the very edge of each hair strand it burst into a tiny flash of light barely visible, except to Remus, whose senses were particularly sensitive this close to the full moon. He sat and watched as she motioned for him to pick up a piece of wood from the fire hearth and hold it in front of her. Touching both ends of the wood delicately with her middle fingers the rivers of flame flowed off of her skin and quickly engulfed the piece of wood. Slightly frightened Remus let go of the piece of wood and the flames over took it and the log fell to the ground. The fire burned through the piece of wood, eating at it so quickly it was as though the log was nothing more than a piece of parchment.

Remus looked at Maya whose eyes were heavily concentrating on the burning wood as it blackened then crumbled to a small stone the size and shape of a rose petal; it was white and glimmered with a slight blue sheen. It shimmered one last time and then cooled to which all Remus could say was,

"Wow"

Maya smiled and began speaking, this time in her normal voice,

"Shaman fire, or as wizard's call it Pyrouthanata, is one of the most basic and fundamental forms of magic the shaman can use. Without it, the shaman is nothing more than a scholar, a student without practice. It is this form of magic that you shall learn."

"I…I can't do that! Not without…"

"Did you or did you not say you were willing to learn?"

Remus stopped for a second looking at his wand parchment and books- dear friends that had been with him all of his four years at Hogwarts; items he never was without. They were things he could count on; if he didn't know the answer to a question one quick look at his notes or a book gave him the answer. If he was having a hard time with a spell there was an answer somewhere in his library. Maya, however, was offering him a magic that you couldn't find in books, and Remus checked out everything he could in the library concerning shaman, druids or the _Magics of the New World._ Nothing in those books prepared him for what she was asking him to do- give up something he had been learning all his life…

"I…alright…I'll learn."

He crossed his legs to sit more comfortably on the ground and Maya leaned in to tell him the uses of Pyrouthanata, which would later be called Heliothanata by some other European wizard who tried to study Shaman Fire and failed in his description. Maya would teach him much more besides, and he began to learn quickly about shaman magic, eventually abandoning the use of his wand for some of his other classes. He didn't learn how to be a shaman in those few brief weeks in the clearing, with the other EMK students, none of the wizards or witches did.

He learned how to breathe shaman fire out of his mouth and have it dance on his hand- each fire was different according to each person. His was slightly purple with a light silver sheen near his skin and when he closed his eyes he saw the night sky without a moon, the stars shining brilliantly. Out of those wizards and witches there only Remus and Helena learned to even do a basic Shaman fire conjuring, which took much more skill than he was used to. As that year progressed he became better and better at shaman fire allowing it to climb higher up his shoulder. He was still frightened then of letting it envelope him whole, something Maya told him would lessen with experience and age," For to let shaman fire envelop you is to become fearless of your own mortality…to stare death and loss in the face and accept them as brothers". When she told him that, he could not understand how important those words would be to him until he had grown into a man…

He smiled as he awakened from his dream/memory to the present day, where he, newest teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts rode the Hogwarts Express through the hills and valleys of England and Scotland. He wondered what ever happened to Maya, what had become of her when that year ended; she left with a peck on his cheek and a promise to always write to him when she could. Of course that was before the war with Voldemort and before he was forced into hiding by the Ministry's anti-lycanthrope laws. He looked at the shaman fire in his hand, giving off warmth and allowing him to feel some peace from the stomach cramps the Wolfsbane potion had caused him. He heard a girl's voice in the cabin, and a name that he hadn't heard in a while, but one which wasn't unexpected…the name "Harry"

He wanted to lift his head above the edge of his cape; he felt such a strong and powerful urge to see the child he had not seen in almost 12 years. He wanted to see Jame's face again his encouraging and worriless smile, and those eyes, Lily's ever-forgiving, ever-loving eyes. Those blue circles of hope that kept him going when the Ministry's laws during the war kept him destitute and loneliness was felt every day and night of his life. The flame in his hand burned a little brighter with his eagerness and he closed his eyes and tried to calm down. The flame returned to a small flicker in his palm and he sighed, thinking to himself that it was best to remain sleeping so that the three teenagers could talk freely, without worrying about saying anything bad in front of a new teacher. Just then he felt a sudden chill in the air, and the train lurched to a stop, the lights going out. He knew the tell-tale signs better than anyone…a dementor was on board.


	11. The Engagement

_Sorry about the skips in the timeline when it jumps to the present, it will become more continuous, I am thinking of getting rid of the flashforwards altogether and just keep going from the past. Anyway enjoy. _

* * *

Remus sat in the cottage upon the cold stone floor; he looked around the place with a sense of amusement and at the same time bitterness. His happiest and worst memories took place here; his first kiss, well his first true kiss; his first loss- one of those gut wrenching losses that one never truly recovers from. He sat down by the fireplace, and dusted away some ash that had gathered on the floor, covering the still luminous terracotta tile which surrounded the hearth. He was alone on Christmas day, as usual, wrapped in his usual tattered and worn cloak; Molly and the others had invited him to celebrate with them since Ron and Ginny would be remaining at Hogwart's for the Yule Ball. He smiled as he looked at the letters Ginny and Neville had sent him for Christmas, both of which told him about their excitement for the dance that Hogwarts was hosting. He had received many letters from the students he had gotten to know last year, many of which asked him if he had landed on his feet since leaving the school. He got up from the floor and checked the kettle which rested by the hearth, the water almost done boiling. He looked out into the graveyard which sat about a few kilometers away and covered the whole hill leading up to the Muggle church upon it. The snowy mists covering it like a haze, the window also looked out into the sea and beyond that the shadow of France looming in the distance.

_I should have visited Maggie today, she always hated this time of year…she would have needed someone there with her._

His mind said to itself, he grabbed hold of the kettle, the handle slightly warm, and walked to the kitchen where a tin of coffee was standing open upon a small table. As he made his coffee he let the spoon stir on its own accord watching as the cream and sugar mingled and caused a light, white film to dance around the top of the black coffee, before sinking into the void and turning it a frothy brown hue. The full moon would not be for another few weeks so that wasn't the reason behind him spending Christmas alone; especially since Sirius was in fact alive and guiltless in James and Lily's deaths. Had Sirius stayed it would have been the first Christmas in a long time that he would have spent with anything constituting family.

No, the reason he spent this particular Christmas alone was because he needed to be alone, especially after the year he had; sacked from the job he had dreamed about for years; loosing and regaining family and friends he had long given up on. This lonely winter was for him to be- as Sirius put it, a lone wolf. To recuperate and to be alone with his thoughts; he was used to the loneliness; even with James and the others he felt uniquely alone, at least until the end of their fourth year. He had been thinking about that year a lot when he had heard that the Tri-wizard tournament was going to take place; often times his memories would assail him in the most inopportune moments. Harry and his friends had this one chance to experience what he and James and Lily had experienced; a chance to learn from something bigger than themselves. True it wasn't as grand as he had experienced but ever after that year he envied those who were able to take that end of school trip around the world. He being too poor was never able to go, although James and Sirius begged him to. He had a mother to support since his father died in the winter of his sixth year; but that was a different time. Thanks to Maggie and her connections he found some employment but not much…

He looked at his coffee and realized that he had phased out into his memories again and it had gone cold. This house was officially his yet he could not bring himself to think that it was; he didn't want to light the stove to heat the whole house; he didn't want to bring life back into this place because he was afraid- afraid that the old memories would flood back to him.

_To look at death and loss in the face and see them as brothers…_

Those words flitted back into his mind and he smiled; maybe going back to Hogwarts rekindled the old fears he had when he was younger, fears of living in the moment, fears of well…living.

"Thunk"

A sudden sound reverberated through the cottage as a gentle scratching was heard coming from the front door. Remus flicked out his wand and the small flame from the hearth jumped through mid air and repositioned itself in his hand, from whence it came. Cautiously he walked to the front door and opened it; there lying on a stunned heap of the snow covered front step was Errol, the Weasley's half-witted, half-blind bird. And beside it was a piece of parchment written in jet black ink. Upon the front of the folded parchment was a simple written message in a long and curved lettering:

**_"Remus Lupin, Hogwart's School of Magic and Wizardry, or whatever address he may inhabit at this moment."_**

He scooped up the letter and the dazed bird and placed the owl upon a perch by the door. He picked up the flame in his hand and sent it sizzling back to the hearth and realizing that the house was far too cold for the old owl he caused the flame to blaze warmer and brighter. The room filled with an orange glow and immediately the wisps of foggy breath that regularly emitted from his mouth disappeared as the warmth radiated from the hearth to the rest of the house. He turned over the letter and found written on the back in Dumbldore's handwriting a note in green ink,

**_Molly,_**

**_This arrived for Prof. Lupin immediately after last term and as usual it got lost in the bustle of end of term preparations; please see that it gets to him…I am sure if anyone can find him you can._**

**_Yours truly Albus._**

Remus cut open the wax seal from Hogwarts and saw the same flowing script that was written on the front; the letter read:

**_R.J._**

**_I know it has been a while since I had last written to you and I am sure you probably know why- The war in England was something neither of us could expect and I am sorry I allowed our friendship to die away. I have been thinking about you a lot recently, especially since I went to the World Quidditch Cup finals; I half expected to see you there but I knew better than that. Anyway I heard from…Well someone told me you were at Hogwart's and I realized this as a chance to try, to hope that the years haven't been too detrimental to our friendship. Please write back to me as soon as you can…_**

**_With much love,_**

**_Maya Rodriguez-Parker_**

Remus looked at the name on the bottom of the letter; he smiled and walked almost absentmindedly to the kitchen sitting upon the richly carved chair where he had once sat. Maya…after all these years she remembered him; he looked at the cottage surrounding him. There was no real food to speak of in that house and yet now, he was incredibly hungry and wanting a full and at least friendly meal. He wrapped his cloak tightly about him and began to get ready to go. Maybe he wasn't too late for dinner with the Weasley's; as he recalled the flame to his hand and it returned to the shape of a small stone he let Errol walk stumblingly upon his arm. The poor bird would probably enjoy a nice apparation than have to fly back home with the snow. He stuffed the letter into his pocket and locked the door behind him. He looked over the misty hill and swamp land and the shadow of France in the distance. As he popped out of existence his mind fluttered back to the last time he saw Maya.

* * *

It was a blisteringly cold winter that year; and a blizzard struck Hogwarts with an unnatural fury that piled snow uncommonly high up to half-way the height of the castle's doors. Yet the blizzard wasn't the news on everyone's tongues; the Three Broomsticks was throwing a party in the middle of February to celebrate the engagement of the Innkeeper's daughter Rosemarta to a Ministry official who worked for the office of International Magical Cooperation. As a result the students from the Schools of Salem, Mexico and India were invited to participate as well as staff and students of Hogwarts. The party was highly anticipated and much of the excitement of the festival that had coursed through Hogwarts was over-shadowed by the excitement building up to the festivities in Hogsmeade. Couples were pairing up faster than anyone anticipated and it became a race to obtain a suitable partner before you were stuck with someone you didn't want or worse went alone. The most curious of occurrences was the teachers acting very much like the students. Professor McGonagall kept fixing her hair every time Professor Aldridge, a professor of potions from Salem passed by her; a few students even caught her giggling as he leaned in to talk her. Of all the students, there was only one who was less-than-enthusiastic. Remus was at first excited as the rest of his peers but one undeniable fact sobered him out of his enthusiasm. A full moon landed on that night, crushing any dream or futile hope of asking Maggie to attend the party with him. Of course he wouldn't have asked her if it were not a full moon, but he would have liked to think he could have.

Helena asked him if he was going and he feigned that he could not afford the proper dress robes for the occasion, which resulted in her presenting him a few weekes later with a set of fitted dress robes that not even Sirius or James could afford. They were black silk with silver embroidery and lion head cuff-links that growled every hour. Remus as usual with girl's advances, as few as they came, passed them on to Sirius or Peter who were more than willing to take them. So it happened that Sirius made his mother extremely happy with the prospect of attending a party with Helena LeFaer, something which he didn't particularly enjoy. James asked Agatha Keller to which the poor girl said yes, after recovering from fainting. Peter, as usual, was unwilling to ask anyone and so just decided to tag-along in dress robes that were far too small for his roundish frame. Remus sulked most of January. He was making his preparations for his three day stay in the Shrieking shack when a knock came on his dorm-room door. When he opened the door there stood Maya smiling at him; she had a small package in her hands and without him telling her she entered the room and sat upon his bed.

"M…Maya,what are you doing here? Who let you in?"

"Oh, Lily let me in; she seemed genuinely worried about you, she says you haven't been happy."

"I've…I've been fine really. Top shape."

"Then why haven't you been coming to our classes. I have missed having you there."

Remus had been avoiding the classes in the forest for a while, mostly because Helena was there and she seemed forlorn when she looked at him and Maya in their lessons. But he also stopped going because the classes changed to the night time and with the full moon approaching he didn't want to take any chances of revealing himself with an accidental partial transformation that can happen, especially in emotionally charged situations. Remus had trained himself from when he was young to control these partial transformations, but every so often he messed up and those were the times he was thankful for his friends who made up excuses for him being locked in his room for some evenings. He looked at Maya who looked expectantly at him and waved off her questioning face saying,

"My mum's not been feeling well; Professor Dumbledore lets me go every few weekends to see her and make sure she is alright."

"Oh that's awful, is that why you can't go to the party?"

"Yeah"

"It has nothing to do with a full moon being tonight?"

He nearly dropped his books when she said that and shook his head and said haltingly,

"Wh…what do you mean?"

He looked at her sideways and she raised her eyebrow disapprovingly, saying in her maternal tone she used when he couldn't understand something she was teaching him,

"Oh please, John, you don't think we didn't notice. Shamans use the stars and moons for some of our magic…you may have been able to hide it from your dim-witted classmates but we noticed right away. Besides, most of us are animagi; we've heard you howling since we've been here. And there have been a few times when you…well, got out."

Remus felt relieved and angry at the same time- here he was keeping a huge secret and Maya was treating it as though there was nothing at all wrong. Then he grew fearful, he had gotten out, he may have hurt someone…or something,

"I…I got out?"

Maya looked at him with her furrowed brow,

"Well, yes but Balam always looked after you, though I must say he was bit rough on you at times."

Remus's memories when he was a werewolf were always stuck in a haze but Maya's story explained why Professor Eaglefeather's yellow Jaguar eyes were so disconcerting and why he always watched him. Remus sat on the bed with a flop and let his other book fall. Maya placed her hand gingerly upon his lap and placed the package on it; it wasn't heavy but it was slightly cumbersome.

He looked down at it and then at her, not knowing that tears were coming out of his eyes, whether they were of joy or sadness he did not know. She wiped them away and then tenderly, almost organically placed her lips upon his, softly at first and then applying more pressure, the soft supple leathery feel of them registering in his mind when his brain finally woke up several seconds later. They kissed for what seemed like eternity; she slowly pressed him onto the bed, her black hair cascading down the sides of her face enveloping his own. Her lips were the first girl's lips he felt, her saliva was the first girl's saliva he tasted. The kiss was sweet and warm and he didn't want it to end. But she parted her lips from his, gave him a small wiry smile then slowly got off the bed. She left him in silence closing the door behind her- he stared at the package the brown paper wrapping crunching in his hand, and didn't remove his eyes until Professor McGonagall called his name.

It was time for him to go to the Shrieking Shack- he carried the package with him but didn't open it, placing it upon the bed where he clawed and bit himself instead of others. His wrists and ankles were chained to four stone bedposts and enchanted with a magical unbreakable spell. The bed looked out toward the road that passed between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts and in the dusk he saw several pairs of young wizards and witches march over to the town of Hogsmeade- he even saw a flare of red sparks jump into his view. Sirius, James and Peter had just passed by and alerted him with their agreed upon signal-he smiled hoping that they had a better night than he was bound to have. He lay down on the bed and thought about his first kiss. True it wasn't with Maggie, or even with Helena; it was memorable because it wasn't at all as he imagined it would be. It was neither romantic nor cold, but loving and tender…His thoughts trailed to the kiss until he heard a familiar voice coming from the road passing by the Shrieking Shack. It was Maggie…and she was singing.


	12. The Wolf Moon

Maggie walked away from the coming dusk, her pointed black boots making loud crunching noises in the snow. She wore a scarlet dress, embroidered richly with deep garnet rose vines; dark fur lined the bottom and was spotted with specks of white fluff. She wore no hat or bun as she usually did, but had her hair flowing down in gentle black rivulets to her bare shoulders where it rested on pale white skin. She wore a long amber hued coat over her brilliant red dress and a hood rested off the nape of her neck. Her bluish-gray eyes pierced out of the white alabaster skin and her red ruby lips seemed to hang listlessly in the unmistakable shape of a frown. Remus looked at her through the dirty foggy glass and she looked like a brilliant tongue of fire gliding effortlessly on the white, unsoiled snow. Her song was in French- or Spanish, or was it Gaelic? - either way he couldn't understand it but it sounded sad, like her heart had broken. He had barely had a chance to talk to her since they came back from winter holidays. The hustle and bustle of the party at the Three Broomsticks and still trying to keep the festival going had kept her busy and she could only spare a quick hello and goodbye. The moment Remus saw her though, only a few meters from where he was chained, he felt the undeniable urge to go to her, to take her in his arms, just as he always imagined and then place his lips upon hers…He stood from the bed and the clinking of the chains reminded him of the futility of his actions. He pulled the bed closer to the window and wiped the dirt and cobwebs clearing up the image of his beloved Maggie.

She stood looking at the Shrieking Shack, her arms wrapped around her body, as though they were the only thing keeping her heart from leaping out of her chest. Unknowingly she looked up at Remus and wiped a tear from her eye. Remus placed his hand on the window and then almost growled as he saw a dark shadow approaching her from the woods behind her.

* * *

Hogsmeade was filled with wizards and witches from all over Britain and the world so the visiting schools were hardly the star attraction. Sirius escorted Helena in with his arm wrapped around hers; he looked at her up and down, in the four years he had known her, she had never looked this beautiful. She wore a deep gray velvet dress and a black shall around her shoulders, designed with silver embroidered swans flying across it to and fro. He wore the suit that she had given to Remus and it fit him to a tee, though Remus was thinner in the waist than him so the pants were a bit snug. Under his breath he whispered to her, eyeing the society photographers who began scribbling down notes as they passed;

"We make quite the couple don't we?"

"Yes especially since your fly is open…"

She said as she lifted her arm and executed a flawless beauty queen wave. Sirius looked down and saw his fly was tightly closed and then he looked at Helena LeFaer,

"Made you look."

She said with her impish giggle, unhooking her arm from his and running toward Lily and the other Sisters of Mercy, who welcomed her with open arms, rolling their eyes at who she had brought as her date. Snape sat, sulking in the midst of them, looking at Sirius with a flame of hatred boiling just beneath the surface. Sirius sighed and tried to catch up with his date, hoping to coax her to join them at James' table. Peter of course found the food and disappeared to where no one could bother him; James sat with Agatha as she preened and giggled and guffawed beside him. As arm-candy she was beautiful, her blonde locks shimmering radiantly in the light of the candles; as a conversationalist she was duller than a sphere. All she talked about was her insufferable dress and whether he liked it. He looked over at Lily Evans, and his heart twinged, as he saw her lean into that vile greasy-haired Snape. He felt red hot with anger as she laughed at his snide remarks and gently caressed his arm.

"Excuse me…Jiiiimmy I'm talking to you!"

James attention went to Agatha who looked at him with a scold in her eye, her squeaky voice resembling a balloon that is slowly losing its air.

"What?"

"I was asking what you think of my hair…"

"It's fine."

"But don't you think it would look nicer up?"

"Yeah…no…maybe…how the bloody hell should I know?"

Agatha looked at the table where James' gaze was focused on before, seeing Sirius looking at their table forlornly as Helena, Lily and Severus debated about something obscure. Agatha harrumphed and crossed her white gloved arms,

"My god you two don't even hide it!"

"Wha…What?"

James's attention was temporarily recaptured by his date as he turned red from having been caught looking at Lily Evan's hair fall cascading over her eyes as it always did when she argued.

"You and Sirius…admit it you would rather be spending the night with him than with me!"

"Well he at least is better company."

Said James, innocently, Agatha blushed and slapped him across the face,

"You should be ashamed of yourself…and using me…as your …your…beard. Ugh"

She scoffed as she got up from the table the sound of her heels clicking on the cobble stone of the central plaza. James looked around him as the tables beside them stared at him and whispered amongst one another…right now he wanted his invisibility cloak more than ever.

* * *

Maggie looked at the Shrieking Shack and leaned on the fence that surrounded it, the wood creaking as she did. She could smell him approaching her, not because he smelled bad, but because he was the only one she knew who smelled like cedar, rose and sage.

"It figures you would be wandering around the forest Tomas."

She said, matter-of-factly she turned and looked at him, smiling weakly as she looked into his comforting and wise face, his black hair crossing his dark visage when the breeze would pick up. He wore rather sensible dress robes, a shimmering black coat with silver rabbit fur lining the sleeves. His suit beneath was a vibrant gray and a blue vest radiated out on his chest covering his white linen shirt. Most of his hair was tied neatly behind his head in a ponytail but a few wisps were still loose and blowing in the cold chilly air. He smiled and looked at her directly in the eyes,

"One cannot wander _querida_, when one knows the object of his quest."

He smiled in that same roughish way that he did last autumn, mischievous and full of life. He reached into his coat and with a flourish pulled out a brilliant red Heliophyla and offered it to Maggie, who smiled and reached out taking it from him, its warmth radiating around her. She closed her eyes and reveled in its simple beauty; drawing her memory to a happier time a year ago- though then it was a rose she had received. She felt tears begin to cascade down her cheek again and she turned from Tomas and scrounged in her coat for her handkerchief,

"Please…Bal…Don't do this…not tonight."

"If not tonight … when?"

He moved in closer and reached out his hand gently placing it upon her shoulder. She melted to his touch in a way that Remus had never seen before. She almost gave in to him allowing him to place his other hand upon her other shoulder. Tender and strong he looked down into the back of her head and smiled, genuinely smiled as though he were looking at a work of art. He moved his arms from her shoulders gently down her arm cupping her tender elbows- he wrapped his arms around her, protecting her from the cold, the flower buried between them.

"For five months I have watched and talked with you, always pretending that what we shared was just a temporary emotion..."

He gently turned her face up to look at him, and as she gazed up at him, his face framed by the brilliant glowing stars in the late dusk, she would have given in there, but reason broke into her mind and she violently pushed him back, shouting,

"No! … For heaven's sake Bal… Can't you see it is torture what you are doing to me? It is torture to have you be kind to me, to say such poetry to me when we are alone…it hurts."

Remus had to wipe the tears from his eyes as the sounds of Maggie's painful voice reached into his own chest and crushed his young and eager heart. She loved the Jaguar-man, she may have pushed him away and yelled at him but he could see it in her eyes, she was terrified and afraid, not of him, but for some unknown and heart wrenching reason, she was afraid of loving him.

Remus wanted to cry out, wanted to rip his hair out of his head, the tears kept streaming down his cheeks and he heard himself utter a terrifying moan of sadness. He looked out the window again, Maggie was pacing now, talking to Professor Eaglefeather and he, once confident now looked as heart-broken as Remus, frustrated and angry he leant upon the fence and even from the distance Remus could smell his blood boiling, and his hands getting tense as he gripped the wood of the fence. Maggie said to him in broken sobs

"I can never love you the way you want me to… I…I never learned how. You see, for you it comes easy, but for me…You would love me for what? A year? And I could never return it, not the way you want me to."

She put her hands gently on his chin lifting up his face to look at her,

"My heart is cold for a reason…I can't love you…"

He straightened up and held her wrists in his strong hands pulling them toward him so that her hands rested on his chest,

"Because of some prophecy?"

"My mother was never wrong! Not about my father …and …not about you."

She walked a little away from him, wrapping her hands around herself,

"My mother was never wrong; as a seer she was nearly perfect, her prophecies about death…well they never changed. She predicted the rise of…of the Dark Lord. She said my father would die by the hand of a fox- and 15 years ago today, my father was run over by a truck…driven by a man named Reginald Fox…She was never wrong, Bal…for our sake, do not love me, it will destroy both of us."

Silently he looked at her for a long time and shook his head in disappointment- he turned on his heel and walked away. Maggie hung her head low as he left. Suddenly he stopped and turned to face her, his voice was low and broken, almost defeated,

"Do not let your mother's foresight rule your heart Lune…I know it better than anyone…Yes she said a man with eyes of amber would bring about your destruction; but love…love is as just a dangerous thing as death- Love destroys us all. I do not care if a thousand seers warned against our meeting- if Death himself kept you from me. I would still feel the same way, cold heart and all… For you…you are my morning and evening star…you have captured me Lune and for that…For that… I thank you… and I love you."

He slowly moved in toward her as the last rays of light left the sky, for a brief moment the soft blue twilight filled the moonless sky. She made no movement to stop him, only dropping the flower onto the snow, the sizzling sound of melting snow filling the night sky. Tears ran down her cheek as she ran toward him. The last thing Remus remembered was her running toward Professor Eaglefeather and then the world became fuzzy.


	13. The Hunt Begins

The party was in full swing by the time dusk arrived- Rosemerta spared her old father no expense as the tables were covered in fine white linen and each table had a floating chandelier above it the lights twinkling slowly like little revolving stars. They surrounded a wide dance area in the middle of the town; the students from the EMK had planted Heliophyla all around the party area so that people would be able to remove their coats and dance as though the plaza was indoors away from the cold. Sirius, in an attempt to remove himself from the vicinity of Severus asked Helena to dance, an offer she took willingly. Of the two LeFaer sisters Helena was the more adventurous, while Maggie more cerebral; this earned Helena the moniker Half-wit Helen, since most people saw her recovering from an accident than stopping herself before it happened.

It just so happened that her version of dancing, at least at this hour was to propel herself around the dance floor, taking Sirius along for the ride. They spun and leaped in circles across the floor, she spinning like a dervish, kicking up the glittering embers of falling sparklers and Sirius holding on to her for dear life. James and Peter laughed as he was thrown off his feet and sent tumbling towards them. They ran to him when he stopped, barely holding in their laughter as they righted him to a sitting position,

"She's mad! It's not even a fast song!"

He said as he tried to right his hair which had become disheveled; Peter patted his friend's hair down and said with a wide grin on his mouth,

"You know Helen, always marching to the beat of a drum inside her head."

James in his deep baritone laughing,

"You better get up and join her, or else she'll think you've broken something…"

"Good maybe then I can sit this one out."

"Ohhh no you don't, she'll ask me to dance next in lieu of you and I can't risk the injury…got a big match this weekend."

Sirius looked to Peter a begging look in his eyes,

"Please…save me!"

Peter hiccupped as heels clicked in front of them; there glowing and smiling Helena reached out her hand to Sirius,

"Shall we?"

Sirius looked to his mates and before he could say anything Peter said very quickly,

"Wellthatheellooksalright,you'regoodtodance."

And then he scurried away to the table. James helped Sirius to his feet and as he backed away he bumped into a pair of dancers knocking the girl onto the floor. Turning around he said,

"Oh… terribly sorry…"

As he lifted his eyes there stood Severus Snape, his greasy black hair hanging still on his face as though he wore a picture frame rather than a real head of hair. Severus's rare smile evaporated as he saw before him the very bane of his existence, the hated and foolish James Potter.

"Watch where you're going Potter…you could have killed someone."

"It was an accident Snivellus…or did your bangs obstruct your view?"

Severus sneered and a growl could be heard in his voice. He turned from James and knelt by Lily who was nursing a twisted ankle.

"Are you alright Lily?"

He said, dulcet and sweet, a strange sound to be coming from Severus Snape; James's fists balled up as Severus placed his greasy hands on Lily's bare back. Despite his better judgment he knelt by Lily and offered his hand to help her up. It was an action to which she furrowed her brow in confusion; stunned, she placed her hand in his without thinking and he helped her to her feet, leaving Severus kneeling upon the ground. She looked up at him and gazed into his mousy brown eyes, finally grabbing hold of her words she said firmly,

"Thanks Potter…"

Quickly Snape stood and glared at James with a fiery gaze, his nose nearly growing red as he tried to control his breathing.

"Helen could you please help Lily to OUR table."

Helena would have spoken up and in fact her red lips parted to make some smart remark to ease the tension but Snape shot her a look that frightened her, and she placed one arm around Lily's waist and began to help her to the table across the dance floor. Lily looked at Snape compassionately, trying to tell him with her eyes to calm down, but the sight of his greatest tormentor touching, nay even helping his girlfriend was too much. In Severus's mind James Potter was a bully, a violent arrogant bully who had tormented him since their first year and could not in any point in time be filled with anything like compassion…the irony would not catch up with him until he was fully an adult. Once Lily was out of earshot, Severus said holding back from shouting out loud,

"Listen to me Potter…Do not dare touch her in any shape or form again. I have seen the way you stare at her and it's sick…You could have any other girl in the school, so pick one and leave us alone."

Snape turned on his heel and began to walk away, but it was James's turn to speak and he jutted out his foot forcing Snape to fall flat on his face, the music stopped as Severus let out a cry of pain. His nose, straight and rather large took the full brunt of his fall and the crack could be heard over the music. The lanky boy turned around and blood flowed down the front of his face staining what was probably the only set of dress robes he owned for it was moth worn and showed signs that he had attempted to mend it with little success. Tears began to well up as people around them started to chuckle at the sight.

"Better watch where you're going Snivellus…the floor's slippery."

James said as he stooped to pick him up, roughly, before pulling him close and whispering in his ear,

"Now you listen to me you git…I don't know how a cold bastard like you got her to care one iota for you, but I know who and what you are… You don't deserve her…she's too kind for a rat like you."

With some force James pushed Severus backward into a group of people who nearly let him fall, lest he stain their dress robes with his blood. He would have lashed back at James but all the eyes upon him made him curve his back to hide his face as he pushed through the crowd to find somewhere he could clean up. James stood for a second, his fist balled up in case Snape or his friends decided to enact revenge but just as quickly as the party had halted it resumed, almost nearly forgetting the altercation between Potter and Snape, which to be fair was a rather commonplace occurrence at Hogwarts. James looked at Lily's table and immediately regretted his actions, which he always did, she stood there fists balled in anger, her pure white face almost red, except for the tears running down her cheeks. She turned around from him and hobbled away to find Snape.

Sirius patted him on the back and turned him to sit at their table; a few seconds later they were back to laughing and cheering the night away, not really knowing how they were able to get over such things. The evening was quite festive for the rest of the night- Sirius let Helena ditch him for some other EMK boy who was more than willing to dance with her in wild abandon. The party slightly slowed down as Rosemerta's father, the old innkeeper stood to make a speech on behalf of his daughter's engagement, when the night sky was filled with a large red popping light. Red fireworks were lighting the sky and everyone ooed and awed, applauding this last minute addition to the night's festivities. Everyone had a smile on their face…everyone except the innkeeper who wore an expression of shock and Dumbledore whose furrowed brow looked intently worried.

* * *

Maggie ran into Tomas's waiting arms, enveloping herself within them; she smelt his cedery ancient smell and for once felt at home, as she did when she was curled in her grandmother's library on her family estate. He smelled like wisdom and she could feel his heart beating faster and faster as her tears wet his shirt. She looked up at him, her nose seeping onto his blue vest, she smiled awkwardly at him as he smiled at her, his eyes red with his own tears,

"Lune…"

"You're the only one who can call me that and live you know that?"

He smiled at her and bent his neck a little bringing his pink lips down toward hers. His breath, warm and inviting mixed with hers and he was close to placing them on her quivering lips...then suddenly a great cry went up into the air. It sounded like a wounded animal, hoarse and sad; it cried out again in blood-curdling anger, followed by the sound of breaking steel. It shattered the calmness of the moment and the ears of both Maggie and Tomas pricked up at the sound. Maggie looked toward the woods saying reverting to her French,

"Un loup?"

Tomas looked toward the Shrieking shack, his eyes wide with fear as the sound of scratching wood began to fill the night air. He went pale and said,

"No…something far worse…Lune get behind me…"

"But…"

"Do as I say, for once in your life!"

He pushed her behind him nearly perfectly hiding her behind his taller frame. At that point several things happened at once

Tomas spread out his arms and immediately burst into flame, pyrouthanata flowed over all his body and burned away his dress robes, burning a brilliant white hue, with tongues of turquoise. The side of the Shrieking Shack facing them exploded in shards of wood, nails and glass and dust that had been trapped inside was kicked up in a whirlwind, obscuring the dark figure within, though by its outline one could see that it was tall, broad of shoulders, slender and its teeth shimmered in the moonlight. Another glint of silver cuffs hung around where its arms would be and silver chains clanked and clinked as it entered the open air, the deep snow crunching under its feet. The Beast stared at the two humans before it, drool and spital flowing down its maw shimmering in the light which created it. The boy inside was no more, perhaps somewhere deep inside he was there, but he had no control.

Maggie saw the creature and gave out a cry of shock as the wall of the haunted house before them exploded. The Beast crept out of the debris and fixed its eyes on the two humans before it, its bloodlust in need of satisfaction. Immediately it leapt from the ruin of the house and bounded toward them growling and snarling, biting at the air; Maggie drew out her wand ready to fire spells at it in a moment's notice, her mind racing as to which ones were effective against werewolves. Tomas kept his eyes focused on the creature and just as the Beast leapt to pounce on them he uttered a series of mysterious words lost to humankind for the past 400 years. Immediately the flame around him rushed to his hands and leapt forth in a strong force striking the beast in the heart. The Beast let out a whelp and flew back toward the house crashing into a wall of snow that had piled up beside the shrieking shack. The flames on Professor Eaglefeather's limbs had dissipated a little and smoldered on his dark skin; he turned to Maggie,

"Quick signal for help…I will hold him off as much as possible."

Maggie looked to where the smoldering heap of werewolf lay twitching, she looked at Tomas and said,

"I can help!"

"Wand magic cannot stop him. It is the night of the Wolf Moon, the night that all of his kind becomes stronger than they have ever been. Shaman fire can only stop him for so long and I have used much of mine already…it will be a while before I can conjure something that powerful again. Quickly before he recuperates!"

Already the Beast rose from the snow, clawing at it trying to dig its way out of it; it was raging, the foam on its mouth dripping onto the snow, steaming and warm. It howled a large growl and kicked the last of the snow from its feet. It looked larger now, as it fumed with anger and its mangy hair stood on end; its eyes were fixed on Tomas and it cried out in a broken howl. Immediately its gaze was drawn by a bright red image running toward the wood; it smelled something desirable in the scent of the red flame and suddenly leapt out of the snow running toward the figure of Maggie LeFaer.

Maggie got to the edge of the forest immediately in between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. She pointed her wand up and with a great crack fire sparks shot from the tip of her wand and flew high above the trees before exploding in a brilliant display of red light. The moment she turned around it was too late the shadow of the werewolf was flying toward her. She barely had a chance to gasp when the terrible beast was tackled mid air by an equally large black shape. The Jaguar and Werewolf rolled on the ground, coming to a stop at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They were engaged in a fierce battle, the werewolf swiping down at the jaguar with its massive claws and the jaguar wrapping its shining teeth around the ankle of the Beast. The werewolf cried out in a great cry of pain and it swiped its huge claw downward striking the great black cat in the ribs sending it crashing into a nearby pine tree. The Jaguar slammed against the tree and fell to the ground a small puddle of blood forming at its nose. The werewolf howled to the sky and slowly moved toward its defeated foe its gaping maw salivating with hunger. It raised its claw to strike at the jaguar below it when a sharp pain came from its back. The Beast turned around and its back was steaming from being hit, there on the road stood Maggie, her red dress and amber coat blowing in the wind.

"Don't you dare touch him!"

,she cried out, her wand pointed at the Beast. Her black hair blew wildly in the wind and made her look like some vengeful seraphim. The Werewolf hesitated at first, seemingly undecided whether or not to run after the witch before it and for a few seconds the expression of the creature looked to Maggie as though it wore remorse. Immediately the shameful look of the creature disappeared and turned again to anger. It growled at Maggie and motioned to move toward her.

"Leave this place foul creature! Or I will kill you!"

The werewolf looked like it was smiling as it caught the scent of the woman before it; its thoughts of hunger turning to something more immediate and lower than its stomach. It slowly stalked toward her and made to leap upon the object of its desire. The moment it bent its knees Maggie made a motion with her wand that seemed to make a crescent moon shape,

"Flechet Diani!"

From her wand shot forth a brilliant silver arrow followed or encased by a white glow and it flew towards the creature like a lightning bolt lifting the werewolf off of its feet as the arrow pierced its heart. The Beast flew into the woods breaking trees as it was tossed into the air before falling with a limp thud several feet away. Maggie lowered her smoldering wand and then turned to where the jaguar once lay, there at the foot of the oak tree lay a limp figure of a man, his dark olive skin contrasting with the pale white of the snow and the red stain that his blood left behind.

She ran to him and fell to her knees calling out his name. She turned him around to lie on his back and he began to moan a small trickle of bright red blood flowing down his nose and cheek. He flitted his eyes open and seeing the blurry image of Maggie he said coughing,

"Where is he?"

Maggie looked at him and smiled glad to see that he was still alive, she looked to where the body of the werewolf fell,

"I…It's dead. You don't need to worry about the creature."

Unexpectedly the shaman's amber colored eyes popped open and he leapt to a sitting position,

"He's dead?"

The exclamation wasn't one of surprise or joy, but of worry as though his voice was cracking.

"It was going to kill you…I had to stop it the only way I knew how."

"How could you…? Where is he…?"

He said, grabbing her by the arm forcefully,

"It landed over there…"

She said surprised and worried by the tone in his voice,

Almost on the verge of crying Tomas got to his feet and ran to where she pointed, yet what greeted him was nothing but a pile of gathered snow. Claw and footprints dotted the snow around it and led into the deep, impenetrable darkness of the Forbidden Forest. Tomas was breathing heavily inspecting the ground, almost sniffing it, when Maggie arrived at his side. Amazed that no dead werewolf lay in the heap of snow, she pointed her lighted wand in different directions, illuminating the darkness around them; she said, her voice quivering,

"It should have died…that spell is the only thing that can kill a werewolf when it is fully formed!"

"I told you, he is stronger now than he ever will be… there is a hunger and a lust inside him. He will kill tonight… his instinct hungers for blood and I am afraid something more than a simple meal."

Maggie looked at Tomas with a strange look of curiosity upon her face; she watched as he looked at the ground, almost completely naked when a POP exploded right next to her. Standing tall and menacing was Albus Dumbledore, his wand raised and ready, Professor McGonagall appeared right beside him; her dress robes uncharacteristically accentuating her slender neck and distinguished chin.

"Ms. LeFaer…"

, said Dumbledore matter-of-factly,

"would you please tell me what has happened here?"

* * *

The people at the party were looking up at the sky expecting more fireworks, but when none came they returned their attention to Rosemerta's father who, flabbergasted by the fireworks, haltingly resumed his speech. James and Sirius looked at one another with furrowed eyebrows,

"What do you suppose that was?"

James asked, looking in the direction Dumbldore walked slowly off toward with McGonagall in tow.

"I don't know but I don't like the look of it, what would get both of them all in a…Oh shit, you don't think…"

Sirius's face turned pale white as the thought occurred to him and James at the same time, James got up from the table and motioned Sirius to join him behind the Three Broomsticks. Agatha Keller scoffed as she saw the two of them run off into the darkness of an empty Hogsmeade, she leaned into a friend of hers and whispered something that elicited a giggle and an infamous rumor. James and Sirius made sure they were alone when James began to speak,

"I don't like the thought of it as much as you, but I bet Mooney got out again. With this many people…"

"They wouldn't hurt him right? Dumbledore wouldn't dare hurt him, knowing who he is."

"With this many people out and about what do you think someone like Dumbledore would do? You know as well as I that we all mean the world to him… if he had to choose between one of us… or... Remus… he would have to…"

"Don't even say it James… We have to help Mooney the best way we can…"

"And how do you suppose we do that!"

Sirius threw his hands up in the air in frustration,

"How should I know! We need a plan and the only one usually with a plan is Remus!"

James thought about something for a brief second and decided it was the plan, even though his brain was still technically coming up with anything deemed as a consequence or bad things that could happen as a result.

"Come with me"

He said as he ran to a shed immediately behind the Three Broomsticks. He pointed his wand at the lock and said in a whisper,

"Alohomora!"

The lock jangled a bit but did not open, he tried it again and the lock jumped but still did not clink open. Frustrated James shouted,

"Bombarda!"

The whole door splintered open while the lock remained attached to the handles; walking through the gaping hole Sirius said,

"What on earth did you do that for! We…"

Sirius's comment was cut off by the sight inside the shed and there covered by a canvas tarp stood Professor McHannon's motorcycle, having disappeared in October when too many students were asking to ride it. It shined almost tauntingly in the light of the full moon, its candy red coating making Sirius salivate. James had already gotten on the bike when Sirius returned to reality. He hopped on the back just as a scream came from the crowd,

"Hey, you two leave that…"

But Sirius and James were immediately off and into the sky with Professor McHannon's motorcycle, with the blonde teacher shouting at them from the ground.

* * *

Dumbldore heard Maggie's recounting with an eerie calm, while Professor McGonagall placed Dumbledore's cloak over Tomas, who seemed unaffected by the chill. The shaman breathed heavily into his hand and a light green flame leapt out; he threw the flame upon the floor and it seemed to cause an eerie glowing trail to form, hovering like mist above the snow. He turned to Dumbldore and said,

"I can find him Albus…I can track him, before he causes any more harm."

The cold began to creep into Maggie's skin and muscles as she had discarded her cloak which had become wet with snow; she looked between Tomas and Dumbledore with a strange curiosity and then it dawned on her the look that they gave each other was as though they were sharing thoughts that only they two had known,

"You know who it is, don't you?"

Dumbledore looked at Maggie and merely lowered his head turning to face the dim lights down the road where Hogsmeade obliviously shimmered in the distance. He said at first slowly, his voice adding urgency as he neared the end.

"Minerva, return to Hogsmeade, find Flitwick and Slughorn, make sure they secure the perimeter and do not let one child leave that village until we have him detained.

At this Minerve McGonagall popped out of existence, Dumbledore turned his attention to the other two standing beside him,

"Tomas, track him, keep him out of harm's way and for God's sake bring him back here or to Hagrid's hut. Ms. LeFaer I need you to go back to the school…"

"Absolutely not!"

Maggie looked defiantly at Dumbledore her wand at the ready, startled Dumbldore waited for her to continue,

"I will go with Tomas…if this werewolf is as dangerous as you say then he will need help if we come in contact with the creature. Meaning no offense to you Tomas, but you could hardly handle him now by yourself. I will not be sent to Hogwarts to mind the children."

Dumbledore looked upon her with a mixture of pride and fatherly protection; he smirked at her and then nodded,

"Very well… Lunete…, you shall go with Professor Eaglefeather and I shall attempt to locate something to restrain the creature. Good luck."

And with that he disappeared from sight; Tomas looked with worry at the full moon above them, already a blood red sheen was appearing at the lower edge of the celestial orb,

"We won't have time to seek him on foot…his bloodlust is increasing…Ride me!"

Maggie stepped back for a moment,

"What?"

"I can track him faster than you can in my Jaguar form…Hurry there is not much time."

He dropped the robe from his shoulders as his dark, muscled body leaned toward the floor. In an instant he was a large black cat whose amber eyes pierced his black visage. Maggie tied her hair hastily into a loose bun and placed her wand in her hair. Slowly she mounted the Jaguar, after grabbing Dumbledore's cloak from the ground, feeling his warm breath and fur against her legs and between her fingers as she grasped the skin around his neck. With a leap and a bound into the darkness of the forest Maggie and Tomas began their pursuit of the Werewolf.


	14. The Long Night

_This is an exceedingly long chapter so be forewarned, I could not find a place that was good to cut it in half so enoy this very long chapter and as always R&R!_

* * *

When James landed the motorcycle, Sirius jumped off and tried to control his primal instinct to shout to the sky in joy, James quickly pulled him toward a clearing and handed him a sack.

"Alright James, what's your big plan? And why did we have to stop by the room for your book bag and your cauldron?"

James was picking up several pieces of wood and then began to arrange them in a makeshift hearth; he looked up at Sirius and said with a smile,

"Off with your pants Sirius."

Sirius started and chuckled, James looked at him more seriously and pointed his wand at the pile of wood,

"Incendio!"

The heath burst into flames and the clearing was immediately filled with a slow burning ambient heath, he looked again at Sirius and began to take off his own dress robes,

"Now seriously, take off your kit."

Sirius would have protested but James's plans usually made sense when they were done with it so Sirius began unbuttoning his shirt, looking every now and then into the darkness of the wood around them, wondering if this was some cruel joke, expecting girls to pop out of the trees. The idea slightly excited him until he remembered what had brought them to this predicament, the blood-curdling howl of a werewolf on the loose. Now he half expected to be eaten or mauled by a very dear and very helpless friend of his. James took out the cauldron from his cloak and positioned it over the hearth, having filled it with water from the tip of his wand.

"Look, you know how I've been talking to that Eaglefeather chap?"

The nod from Sirius was all he needed to continue on with his story,

"Well, one day I asked him about, well…how come his students, who are our age, how come they are already Animagi when most people don't develop the skill until they have already left school. That's when he showed me this…"

James took the book bag from Sirius and procured from it a small leather-bound journal; the journal was embossed with the image of the crescent moon.

"It's his personal diary…He's been comparing different animal-human transformation from around the globe, he says he's come up with a solution…a way to make animagus transformation uniform, maybe even easier…"

"And he just leant this to you?"

Sirius looked at the book, intrigued,

"Of course not…I nicked it when he wasn't looking…took a long time to translate it of course, my Spanish is horrid and some of it seems to be written in code, but I get the gist of it and it seems…well it seems to make sense…like we can do it."

Sirius looked puzzled at first and then saw what James had been thinking,

"So, if we make ourselves Animagi, we can find Mooney and…"

"Keep him safe…it's foolproof!"

Normally it was at this time that Remus would chime in with a comment or logical reasoning to dissuade James and Sirius from causing major bodily harm to themselves but as fate would have it there was not even the oft-skittish Peter to caution them and so James Potter and Sirius Black began preparing a potion in the middle of a forest, stark naked and illuminated by the glow of a small fire.

* * *

Maggie's thighs felt warm as she straddled the dark beast beneath her; the warmth of the Jaguar's black fur offset the chill that crept into her bones as they raced through the woods, the cold air beating against her chest and neck. Her wand was lit at the tip providing them with some semblance of light, though it was mostly for her benefit, Tomas was using his skilled jungle cat nose to sniff out the creature, the werewolf. She held on tighter to Tomas's fur, pulling herself closer to him, that same sweet incense smell coming off of his fur as when he was in human form; were it not for the fact that they were chasing a werewolf she would have fell asleep on his back with the comfort she felt. She thought of how they met; he infuriated her, and charmed her to the point where she could not keep him from her mind. He forced her to think, challenged her to achieve things, things she had always assumed she would understand eventually, no one had ever done that before, except her Grandmother. She had hardly noticed when they stopped, his nose sniffing and probing the air carefully; before them stood a wall of bare, dark trees that were moist with winter's snow. Maggie could sense that he was waiting for her to dismount, which she did with a definite crunch onto the pale white snow. In a few mere seconds he went from a four-legged massive creature to a man kneeling on one knee surveying the ground. Dumbledore's coat, which she laid upon his shoulders, was far too tall for him and dragged on the snow; she was about to laugh at how much more flamboyant he looked in the crushed purple velvet coat when she saw what he was looking at. One black pine stood surrounded by white snow, except for near the base of the trunk there, unmistakably was a vibrant, almost luminescent blood-red stain upon the pale white ground.

"Par l'oeil de Morgan!"

She swore under breath.

* * *

Sirius was shivering, his bum was wet and icy cold as James looked intently at the Diary of Professor Eaglefeather; the water in the pot was boiling with an eerie inhuman sound- the herbs they had used were ones not even Seventh year potions students were allowed to use, but James had charmed his way into Slughorn's private collection of rare herbs and specimens to get what he needed.

"Alright says here we need a sliver of Hart's Horn."

"There are no deer around James…"

"No, Hart's horn is a root."

He rifled through his book sack and procured a strange looking tuber, roughly the size and diameter of a ginger root; it did actually look like a deer's antlers and its sharp points were formidably dangerous looking. With a steel knife Sirius always kept around with him James shaved off a flat oval shaped disc from the root and let it drop precariously into the cauldron. The bubbling mixture made a hollow roaring sound and began to swirl forming a whirlpool in the small cauldron. James looked at Sirius and smiled, from the book bag he procured a small tea cup from the Hogwart's dining hall.

"Alright mate, bottom's up!"

James dipped the teacup into the whirlpool and allowed the current to fill the cup to the brim. The liquid was a cool silver gray hue and slightly transparent; it smelled like wet dog. James gulped down a bit of nervous saliva, looked at Sirius and drank down the liquid in one large chug. Sirius expected the change to be instantaneous and rather painful looking and so he shut his eyes; when he heard no sound except James sighing he opened one eye and was surprised to see a completely human looking James Potter sitting before him, shivering from the cold. James had his eyes shut also, waiting for the change to happen, he also cautiously peered out of the corner of his eye and saw Sirius looking blankly at him,

"Well?"

"Nothing's changed mate…I don't think you got it right."

James flipped through the book and stood up in frustration,

"But I followed the directions exactly! I used the exact right amount I even asked Helena to translate the Spanish for me, it had to…"

Suddenly a loud gurgling sound came from the vicinity where James was standing, he looked down at his stomach and his face looked rather green in comparison with the bluish pink color of his naked body. His cheeks puffed out and he immediately ran into the bushes holding his stomach and falling to his knees making horrid sounds like a dying creature.

"James!"

, yelled Sirius as he stood to run to his friend, yet something else caught his attention; aside from the sound of James Potter vomiting the entirety of his intestinal tract there was a slow and vicious snarl coming from behind a bush. Sirius turned and looked at where the sound was coming from, and he saw two large pairs of yellow eyes and glimmering white teeth, marked with the unmistakable stain of blood.

* * *

Tomas inspected the leaves carefully, while Maggie looked at the surrounding area, she could see no sign of struggle so the werewolf must have caught its victim unawares and killed it quickly. Suddenly she saw what she was looking for, in a clearing not far away, lit by the light of the full moon Maggie saw the silhouette of a body, a creature of some kind lying still on top stained red snow. She ran without thinking toward it, while Tomas called her name and made to grab her but she ran too fast beyond him, breaking into the clearing with her wand raised at the ready. Tomas joined her and said,

"The blood is old…well far too old to be recent, I would say it was spilt an hour ago…he is gone."

Yet he got no response from Maggie, who was struck silent by what she saw, lying in the white snow was the limp and mangled body of a creature that looked like a child, yet instead of feet it had four hooves. The coat of the centaur colt would have been a brilliant chesnut were it not covered in deep claw marks and blood. The poor creature's neck was broken and luckily it did not seem to feel its very brutal end. Maggie fell to her knees beside the colt, laying her hands hesitantly upon it,

"I…I do not understand…Werewolves do not attack other creatures. How could it have done this?"

Tomas slowly walked over to her and kneeling beside her, placed his hand upon her shoulder,

"The wolf moon is a very powerful moment for a werewolf…Those afflicted with the disease become wilder, stronger…their desires become amplified…they are filled with the insatiable desire to fly, to feed and …"

The rustle of leaves breaks the stillness of the world around them and before the two could stand they were immediately surrounded by a large hunting party of centaurs; steaming and filled with rage they paw at the ground making it shake with sudden anger. The leader, a tall heavily muscled centaur came forward, wielding a large double edged axe, pointing it at Tomas,

"Do not touch the colt, creature! You have violated a long trust between our peoples and the penalty is death!"

At this Maggie stood and pointed her wand at the centaur's head,

"He did not harm this poor youngling! Clearly you can see that he is not capable of it!"

"We have seen him wander this forest as a great beast, a black cat! Only he could have done this…witch!"

The centaur moved to attack but Maggie stood firm where she was and a fierce light emerged from the tip of her wand, as the centaur moved closer it struck an invisible wall that caused it to rear back and bay at them with anger and frustration. The large centaur raised the axe when a loud voice struck them all,

"Charon! Do not harm them if you value your life!"

Immediately the centaur turned to face the origin of the voice and there standing in the midst of the centaurs behind him stood Albus Dumbledore, his hands behind his back, looking calm and peaceful in the moon light.

"Albus! This does not concern you…your jurisdiction does not protect this creature!"

"No it would not if he was the one that killed the poor child, but as you can clearly see this handiwork is the work of a creature far more dangerous and deadly than a simple Jaguar…a werewolf is loose within the Forest."

The Centaur snorted in something that sounded like a curse word and replaced his double-edged axe in its holster upon his back. He walked over to Dumbledore and they spoke in whispered hushed voices as Tomas and Maggie stood from where they knelt and moved away from the heavily armed hunting party. Maggie whispered to Tomas,

"You said the werewolf would have two main desires…to feed and…"

"The Wolf moon will cause him to desire blood and once that desire is satiated, the creature will desire to…spread his disease, through the only means available to him."

"You mean he will seek out another werewolf…"

"That would be ideal…but I do not think we are that fortunate…I was thinking he will be more inclined to, procreate the traditional way…through his teeth."

"Hogsmeade is only a short distance away…all those people."

"Will surly draw the creature there, we must lure it away…"

Just then their attention was drawn to Dumbldore and the centaure called Charon parting; Charon pointing to the sky said,

"Mark the time now Albus…you have three hours to find this creature…If I and my party find him first his head is ours to cut off, whether he be human or not, he will pay for the death of my son!"

With that the Centaur ordered two of his hunting party to lift the body of the dead colt and they slowly walked out of the clearing towards the South. Dumbledore walked to where Maggie and Tomas stood and sighed,

"Well you heard him…three hours to find the boy and bring him into Hogwart's grounds…Do you think you can find him in that time Tomas?"

"I can try…his scent has gone cold from here but, if he is heading toward the village then there may still be a chance."

"To what capture him?! This creature has killed an innocent and we want to ensure that he lives?! I say let the centaurs catch him, it will be the just thing to do!"

Maggie's voice, shrill and angry entered the conversation, to which Dumbledore placed a calm hand upon her shoulder,

"If you only knew my dear of whom you condemn to such a terrible fate, you would wish those words never left your mouth."

"Then who do I speak of eh _parrain_?"

"I cannot tell you…not yet."

"Then do not chastise me for feeling this anger! For wanting to see that werewolf's head upon a stake for how he massacared that poor colt!"

Tomas took her hand and said,

"Lune…this creature cannot be held to blame, he is drawn by a force more powerful than we can conceive. A rage and lust burn in him that leads him to do things he otherwise would not even dream of."

Maggie turned to him tears streaming down her face and said,

"And how would you know his state of mind?"

"Because I have seen it before…my brother was a werewolf."

At this she became silent and they stood there for a brief span of time before Dumbledore spoke again, bringing out silver chains from within his cloak.

"These should be able to contain the creature enough so that we can wait till sunrise…if you should find him Tomas, bring him to Hagrid's hut. My dear, perhaps you should come with me…"

Maggie looked at them both and breathed in heavily,

"No, I said I would hunt the creature and I shall…but if he makes one more attack upon an innocent life I will not be as soft handed as you two have proven to be."

Sighing Tomas took the chains and returned to his form of a jaguar, allowing Maggie to sit on him once again. As the leapt off into the night Dumbledore looked at the moon and saw the blood-red stain upon it began to grow, three more hours remained in the evening till moon set, perhaps he could stall the centaurs in time…

* * *

Sirius breathed heavily as the yellow eyes rose from where they were eye-level with him, they rose until they reached 8 feet above the ground. The bush mostly hid the creature yet its silvery gray mane caught the light of the moon and glistened frighteningly cool and calm. Sirius slowly back away, whispering he said,

"James…get out of here!"

He turned to run and immediately the werewolf that was once Remus Lupin leapt from the cover of the holly bushes and almost jumped on Sirius Black when a loud screech pierced the sky and the wolf let out a hoarse scream. Sirius, who had landed on his face in the cold snow turned and saw the large bestial figure of the werewolf contending with a large, white and brown owl. The bird hovered above the head of the werewolf pecking and scratching at his eyes. Blood began to run down the werewolf's snout when he grabbed the bird and flung it aside like a gnat. Sirius jumped for his wand but the werewolf locked its eyes on him again, it extended itself to full height and let out a menacing howl to the sky; hungrily it eyed Sirius and the reflection of the young boy was caught in the bright yellow of his eyes. Suddenly the creature's attention was drawn to the right and it let out a low growl of discontent. There standing where James Potter once was, stood a magnificently regal stag; its antlers, though small looked hard as diamonds and the soft breath that exited its nostrils coiled in incense like clouds. The werewolf let out a few growls as a warning, yet the stag did not move, instead it brandished its antler points and bent as though to charge. The stag pawed at the ground and snorted, the werewolf looked one last time at Sirius and then sped off into the darkness of the Forest. Sirius stood and stared at the stag; just then the stag fell to the snowy ground and in a few short twitches and spasmatic movements the stag turned back into James Potter.

"James!"

,yelled Sirius as he ran to his friend's aid, he fell to his knees beside his friend and started to shake him,

"That was amazing mate!"

But no response came from James Potter, he lay unconscious upon the snow, his body slowly turning from pink to pale white and blue. Just then a second rustling came from beyond and Sirius made to strike whatever appeared; yet from where the owl had been thrown a female form arose from the snow. Maya shook the snow from her hair and a light bruise was beginning to form on her side. She looked at Sirius like an angry mother and said,

"I knew you two would do something stupid!"

* * *

Maggie held on to Tomas tightly as he ran through the forest following a scent she could not smell; the image of the dead colt haunted her and she could not get the sight of blood out of her mind. Suddenly on top of a rocky hill Tomas halted, the jaguar made a movement as though he was asking her to get off him. She slid off him and wrapped Dumbledore's purple coat around her shoulders, which had turned almost as red as her dress; in a few moments Tomas stood in the form of a man again and began to pace the area looking at the ground. A heavy silence emitted from his mouth, a sign Maggie knew meant he was either angry with her or he was deep in concentration. She placed her hand on his shoulder,

"I did not know…your mother only said that Juan had died…she did not say that he is…"

"She did not lie to you…My brother is dead, when he killed his wife and her family one full moon night, he took his own life."

She would have asked more but he turned away from her and sat cross legged upon the frigid stone. His breathing soon slowed and seemed to stop altogether save for the light mist that would continuously come out of the corners of his mouth. She sat beside him peering into the dark forest below and wondering where the creature was, if Helena was safe in Hogsmeade, and a stray thought entered her mind, she thought about young Remus Lupin and how she felt a certain joy that he was safe in the walls of Hogwarts, not being disturbed by that night's terrors. She felt suddenly warm, as though she were sitting beside a fire and when she turned to where Tomas was sitting she saw him completely engulfed in a bright purple flame; the tongues of the fire touched his skin and seemed to spike at his hands, forming the shape of a long medicine stick, with bright blue gourds hanging from it. He held out his hand for her to hold, and though his face was deep in concentration a look in his eyes told her to take it. When her pale, soft hand touched his she felt her heart beat quicker and her chest seemed to be pushed in from all sides, as though she was sinking; the purple and blue flames leapt from his dark skin and danced upon hers climbing slowly up her naked arm and then surrounding her neck and even dancing upon each individual strand of her hair. She suddenly felt that all her senses were heightened, for she smelled the deep moss and lichen, blooming in the light of the winter moon and she heard the roots of the trees burrowing deep into the soft dark earth; she heard the flapping of several wings and tasted the water being lapped up at a nearby stream. Then she saw what he saw, the whole forest became a mixture of colors and hues, lights and shadows, blending and moving as paint floats in a bucket of water. He had told her about this kind of magic before, magic regularly used by shamans when tracking; though the way he explained it did not do it justice. It seemed to her like her entire senses were being used at once, sights blended with smells and sounds mixed with textures and it felt like she could not process the information in a hundred years even if she tried. Suddenly she felt a great burning sensation in her forearms, yet something forced her to turn eastward, toward Hogsmeade. The colors and lights turned to a still gray and bold against the backdrop was the misshapen figure of a werewolf, illuminated in brilliant red, like a burning flame. She let go of Tomas's hand and suddenly the vision faded and she was once again upon the hill top overlooking a vast and dark forest. Tomas stood, the purple and blue flames slowly receding into his skin, he looked tired and weary yet still he stood tall,

"My students are turning him toward us; we must hurry if we are to intercept him."

Maggie nodded simply and closed the purple velvet robe against her skin tighter, closing out the bitter cold. She firmly held her wand in her hand and mounted the jaguar that stood next to her; they returned to the hunt yet a part of her never forgot the experience upon the hilltop. For a brief moment of time, she and Tomas were of one heart and mind and he no longer had any secrets from her, nor she from him and for once she was glad to have all her secrets known.

* * *

Maya Rodriguez knelt beside the body of James Potter hovering her flaming hand over his chest, warming him and whispering enchantments; Sirius by this time had dressed in his clothing and put out the fire, gathering all the instruments they had used for the animagus spell. Every now and then Maya would stop what she was doing and look into the vacant eyes of the boy laying down beside her, worry spelled upon her brow,

"Don't you wizards know when to leave well enough alone? Not all the world's secrets are yours to unravel!"

Sirius spoke at this,

"Will he be alright?"

She looked at him, stoically,

"I don't know, I need Professor Eaglefeather, she is an expert in this kind of magic."

"She? But I thought he was a bloke?"

Maya scoffed at this, returning to rub her hands over James's chest a pinkish hue returning to it for a moment,

"Weren't you paying attention? There are two Professor Eaglefeathers, one who teaches at my school and the other who teaches at Salem Witches Institute. She is his mother and her specialty is animagus transformation, that journal you have is hers."

Sirius looked uneasily at the journal lying in his sack,

"But doesn't this usually happen, I mean he did change didn't he?"

Maya wiped a few beads of sweat from her brow,

"Animagus magic is very risky, especially when wizards attempt it and especially if they do not know what they are doing…He at least changed fully back, which is a good sign, but generally people do not faint or go comatose in the process."

She breathed in deeply and bending over the body placed her lips upon James's. She breathed out heavily and for a moment James's throat lit up as his lungs were filled with Shaman fire. His eyes opened immediately and he shot up, coughing out smoke and bits of water. Gasping for air he did not realize that he was stark naked in front of a girl and Sirius until he stopped; suddenly he turned blush red and ran to hide behind a bush. Sirius laughed out of joy and nervousness, Maya smirked and rolled her eyes,

"Well at least we know he is still alive."

Once James had dressed he was updated about everything that had happened in the few shot minutes that he was blacked out; he was rather astonished to hear that he had turned into a stag since he did not remember how it felt to change, all he remembered was hearing Sirius telling him to run and feeling the incessant need to help. Once everything was told Maya stood as though listening to an inaudible sound,

"You have to go! The forest is not a safe place for wizards right now."

To which James responded,

"What? Why?"

Maya looked at them with a sense of urgency in her eyes, which looked like huge orbs of darkness,

"The centaurs are hunting, a few are approaching now. Quickly get on the motorcycle and leave!"

Immediately she sprang into the air and turned into her owl form flying quickly and silently into the darkness of the forest. James and Sirius jumped onto the motorcycle and sped off into the air, barely escaping the hunting party of centaurs that broke into the clearing. When they had exited the canopy of the forest they saw the brown and white owl flying westward, James who was steering quickly turned and followed the owl, hoping still to find and help their friend.

* * *

An hour had passed and still there was no sign of the werewolf, sunrise was near and Maggie was getting tired of riding a jaguar, which was not exactly like riding a horse. They had been running through the Forest following Tomas's keen sense of smell and every so often he would halt to climb a tree and hide while a party of centaurs barreled through the woods, bows and arrows in hand, sniffing the air before taking off again, yet it seemed ages ago that they had last stopped and recaught the scent of the werewolf, for unlike other animals their track often gets mingled with the wild abandon of the forest. Suddenly Tomas began to pick up speed and Maggie wondered why, for his breathing which had been slow and methodical before was now quick and it frightened her. She heard breaking twigs and branches and turned her head before giving out a shrill cry. Behind her a large hairy creature was pursuing them, foaming at the mouth, blood dripping from its fangs and around its eyes. The werewolf seemed to have grown and it looked at her with such a hunger that Maggie could feel it smelling her. The jaguar took quick turns to try to elude the monster but the werewolf was quick and began to gain on them. Maggie lifted her wand and fired every possible attack and defense spell she could yet they would either miss or just simply bounce off the creature like water bounces off a rock. Maggie tried to hold onto Tomas tighter but the quick movements he was making made it difficult and soon she found herself sliding off. Suddenly with a quick evasive maneuver she found herself flying off and rolling into a thick brush of holly and briar rose. She landed on the ground covered in tiny scratches her face lying upon the snow, its bitter cold touch keeping her from falling asleep from exhaustion. She quickly remembered the reason why she was flung from her seat and swiftly got to her feet; the forest was quiet, save for a set of distinct growls coming from her right. She ran in their direction and found a large creature towering over a black jaguar, their yellow eyes locked in combat.

The jaguar swiped upward slicing deep gashes in the werewolf's torso; unfazed the creature flung its claws downward barely missing the agile cat. Maggie raised her wand and a bolt of lightning shot out from her myrtle wand scraping the shoulder of the creature. It let out a howl as its muscled shoulder sprayed blood and skin onto the ground; it immediately turned to face her and began to approach her. Then the jaguar jumped on its back and began biting at its neck. The werewolf reared up and began clawing at its back; its long arms reached behind and grabbed the jaguar, digging its claws into the great cat's back, then it flung the jaguar across the clearing into a thick oak tree. Maggie heard the sound of bones breaking as the great cat landed against the tree; she let out a cry of anguish and anger, she raised her wand and let fly another large bolt of lightning barely clipping the werewolf in the side. The creature ran away into the darkness blood trailing behind it. Maggie fought the urge to follow and instead ran to where Tomas now lay, blood oozing and dripping from the corners of his mouth and nose. Four deep puncture wounds shone brightly in his back and though he tried to get up his legs buckled under him and he fell to the ground again,

"Stay still Tomas…"

She tried to say more but no words would leave her lips, she saw him lying by her, his head resting in her lap, struggling to breathe; he looked at her in pain and each time he tried to speak blood would come out instead. Maggie tried to staunch the wounds with her wand but that only made them flush more blood out. Desperate she held him close to her and rocked him as though he were a baby, his fumbling frantic hands wrapped themselves around her and she felt him try to embrace her as they had embraced beside the shrieking shack. Maggie suddenly realized a warm wetness on her cheeks and for the first time she noticed she was crying, truly crying as she had not done since her father died. She said in a whisper almost to herself,

"I can't lose him…please…I can't lose him now!"

Slowly his hands stopped trembling and fell from where they held her tightly, despite heavy breathing Tomas's body went limp and cold; Maggie stared at his terrified eyes for what seemed like an eternity and then found herself emitting a horrid gut wrenching cry. Soon she found herself running through the woods, following a thick trail of blood, her dress tearing in places where he passed through brambles and branches, not caring whether she scratched herself or not. Like a madwoman she raced through the trees until she saw the object of her hunting, the werewolf was limping now holding its shoulder and side, trying to prevent the wounds from seeping more blood. She cried out and aimed her wand at the creature, which turned to face her, its face a pitiful show of sadness and defeat, like a dog that has been struck on the nose by its master. For a moment she hesitated and saw something in those amber eyes that seemed almost familiar; breathing in she uttered a spell that even she did not recognize and was blinded by the white flash that came from her wand. When she opened her eyes the creature was gone and the moon was setting behind the silhouetted of Hogwarts that loomed before her.

* * *

Sirius and James had been flying the motorcycle for a long time when they saw the owl suddenly swoop down with a sense of urgency, James revved the engine and cycled down in a death-defying spiral back into the trees. When Sirius opened his eyes again, he found himself clutching James around the waist so hard that he felt his fingernails dig into James's stomach. Yet his friend did not say a word, but was staring at a grisly scene before him; the entire forest floor was covered in blood and broken branches and lying next to a great oak tree was a still form of a man, covered in blood. Maya knelt beside him holding his hand and crying into it; the body was surrounded by four large centaurs each holding massive bows, roughly the size of sapling trunks. James quickly got of the motorcycle, his heart was beating faster than it ever had;

"_It can't Remus…it can't be him!"_

He kept repeating these words to himself, disregarding the fact that the centaurs had heard him running and had lifted their bow ready to fire.

"Protego!"

Shouted Sirius from the bike as the arrows of the centaurs flew towards James and bounced harmlessly off the shield conjured by his friend. When he got to where the body lay he knew it wasn't Remus, but still his heart seemed to stop beating when he saw Professor Eaglefeather lying in a pool of his own blood. Knowing that the wounds were a mark of werewolf claws he shook his head trying to think of any other possible way that the Professor could have gotten those wounds, any way which did not make one of his best friends a murderer. Suddenly a loud, harrow cry came from the forest and a bright light shone through out the forest. James got up from where he was and ran towards it, he heard Sirius and the heavy footfalls of the centaurs coming quickly up behind him and overtake him, he said to Sirius, though in truth he was saying it to himself,

"They're going to kill him! Oh god they're going to kill him!"

Tears were running down his cheeks as they neared the borders of the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid's hut familiar and warm just down the hill; when they reached there they saw Dumbledore holding back a mad woman, her black raven hair in shambles, her dress a tattered rag. She was screaming and raving trying to point her wand at a figure that lay motionless in a heap where Hagrid's pumpkin patch was. The beast was still as the first rosy fingers of dawn shone over the eaves of the Forbidden Forest, the night was over and so was the hunt.

* * *

Maggie pushed against the old man with all her strength, having run down the hill to Hagrid's hut, where the werewolf lay wounded from her spell she was quickly stopped by the figure of Dumbledore seemed to appear out of nowhere. Tears streaming down her face she cursed him saying,

"I will kill him! Let me kill him, why are you stopping me! He is a monster!"

She beat her fists against his chest and wanted to kick and scratch at him for stopping her when she was so close. And yet he did not strike her, but calmly started caressing her head and soothing her as though she were a child throwing a temper tantrum; this only made her more enraged yet as dawn approached she stopped her raging for the figure of the werewolf before her began to moan in pain. Its limbs twisted and writhed and its mouth began to sink into its face the sharp fangs receding into pink gums; the large hazel eyes dilating and growing smaller and smaller. She looked with morbid wonder, unable to fathom who it was lying in the pumpkin patch upon lily-white snow; lying there at Hagrid's feet was Remus Lupin, scratched, wounded and bleeding from his side, neck and shoulder. Hagrid stooped down and picked up the nearly lifeless form of the boy and held him in his large arms completely shielding him from any attack, for the centaurs were racing down the hill arrows fitted in their bows ready to fire. Suddenly Dumbledore spoke loudly a word in their language and said,

"Go tell your master his hunt is over, this boy is under my protection and the protection of Hogwarts, unless of course you wish to have is blood on your hands and have to explain it to the ministry!"

The centaurs stood still where they were and huffed and neighed, yet after a while they turned and galloped back into the forest. Maggie stood still as a ghost staring at Remus's feet and arms which hung out of Hagrid's arms, pale and almost cold. Dumbledore said something to him about getting him to the infirmary; this prompted her to say, almost robotically,

"Tomas…Tomas"

Dumbldore nodded and motioned for someone to follow him; Maggie did not even notice Professor McGonagall take her in her arms as Professor Flitwick followed Dumbledore into the forest. At last she let out a hoarse cry and sobbed into McGonagall's shoulder, letting her exhaustion take the better of her.


	15. The endfor now

Darkness surrounded Remus and all was silent except for the hoarse laughter of a fell and wild creature; no matter where he turned or ran the laughter followed him. He felt wet, yet it was not cold like water but warm and sticky and had the unique taste of copper; Remus remembered the taste of blood but now it felt different, not as it had tasted before, it was more pleasant more…alive. The knowledge that he was tasting blood and he liked it almost made him vomit, yet he couldn't feel his stomach churning, it was as though the very nerves of his body ceased to exist, as though all that existed in the darkness was his mind and even that began to give way, filled with dark thoughts and horrid images.

"Remus?"

The voice pierced the darkness and the cruel wall of laughter like the clear ringing of a bell; at first the voice was clear and echoed through the chasms of his mind bringing a silence to the laughter. For a brief moment light returned to the dark place of his mind and he saw his hands and then they were quickly enveloped in darkness again, yet now he could feel them.

"He's been like that for hours James…It's not going to help."

James, that's who the first voice was and the other was clearly Sirius, Remus felt himself want to shout their names, want to ask them to help him, to take him out of this horrid stillness.

"James! Sirius! I'm here!"

He shouted, hoping that they could hear him, but his words fell heavily into the all encompassing void.

"Perhaps you should go back to your rooms, lads…We can't do anything more for him now… He needs rest and quiet."

The voice of Mistress Pompfrey, the young apprentice healer at Hogwart's, echoed through Remus's mind and he felt somehow if he didn't reach his friends they would leave him forever and he would be stuck, never again to see their faces,

"James! Sirius, Peter, someone! I'm still here…Don't leave me! Please don't leave me!"

Suddenly he felt a warm feeling where his hand would be, it felt like something or someone encased and wrapped itself around it.

"Come on Mooney… You have to pull through…please, just wake up…"

James's voice pierced through the darkness again and it sounded like it was wavering, almost on the verge of crying. Remus felt the warmth grow in his hand and wanted desperately to squeeze back, to give some sign that he heard them.

"Come on mate…Let's go…"

"Don't make him go Sirius…Let him stay!"

"Did you hear that? He said something…I think he said stay!"

Suddenly the darkness seemed to pass over him, like a veil slowly pulled over the eyes, blinking he slowly opened his eyes and saw the roof of the infirmary and the white linen curtains that covered the tall windows. Daylight was shining through and the sound of larks, or swallows was filtering through the sky. The air around him felt warm and as his eyes slowly adjusted to the bright sunlight he saw James sitting next to his bed, holding his bandaged hand firmly in his own. Behind him was the unmistakable figure of Sirius, his eyes wide in disbelief and his mouth in the curious crook of a smile. Peter was farther away, next to Mistress Pompfrey who had dropped a silver tray, filled with vials and herbs. Sitting on a stool in the farthest corner of the infirmary was a sleeping old man, his white beard hanging heavily on his chest, dressed in a fine robe of auburn, his half-moon glasses hanging surreptitiously on the edge of his nose. When the tray crashed he woke up as though from a terribly peaceful nap and looked straight into Remus's eyes, smiling warmly, like a wizened grandfather. He stood and arched his back, cracking it,

"Well Mr. Lupin, it is perhaps excellent timing that you woke up when you did, end of year exams are fast approaching and I feared we were going to have to hold you back."

Dumbledore laughed at his own joke, opening the door to the infirmary and going outside of the room. As Mistress Pompfrey picked up the phials she had dropped, Remus's friends quickly surrounded his bed,

"Don't let him worry you; he's been here the whole time, watching over you."

James let go of his hand and gently squeezed Remus's shoulder, which still felt sore. Remus was too happy to see his friends he could not even respond but just listened to them as they told him the story of what happened that night. Remus listened with thoughtful horror and shame as he heard about how a centaur colt was found dead and how the centaurs prevented any student from entering the woods. Furrowing his brow he said,

"How…how long have I been out of it?"

Sirius looked distractedly at Remus, then at James and Peter; Peter finally said,

"You've been practically comatose for a month Mooney…it wasn't until yesterday that you made any noise…"

Remus felt tears began to flow down his cheeks and he tried to cover them up, but Sirius handed him a handkerchief and gave him an encouraging smile,

"We were worried sick about you…When you wouldn't wake up… we thought they …they killed you."

"Who?"

Said Remus, James sighed and with a worried look on his face he said,

"Maggie and Professor Eaglefeather…they fought you off pretty badly and you were all covered in blood. But you looked a lot better than Eaglefeather."

Remus's eyes went wide open,

"What happened to him?"

Peter looked over at the other corner of the infirmary and there was erected a wall of white sheets, blocking off an area approximately the size of a bed. As the morning light shone through Remus could see the silhouette of a bed, with a still figure in it; seated beside it another person was sitting her face resting in her hands. Almost instinctually Remus took off the covers, ignoring the protests of his friends; weakly, like a newborn foal he got upon his two legs, which felt like dead weights and sore as though he had been running for several days. Yet slowly, leaning on Peter for help he walked over to the other side of the infirmary; he gulped down a lump in his throat and pulled back the slit that was the opening. There lying in the bed was a severely bandaged Professor Eaglefeather; his face was still and unmoving, set in a deep sleep. He had white bandages wrapped about his chest, sides and stomach, showing deep red openings where his scars were. The bed was enchanted to slowly rotate him and if Remus had been there five minutes earlier he would have seen the large five fingered claw mark on the muscled back of the shaman.

Immediately Remus's eyes were turned to the figure sitting in the chair, and though he expected to find Maggie, sitting there he saw an older woman, one of the Salem teachers, wiping tears from her eyes. She turned to look at Remus and he saw a severely sorrowful face; while her hair was peppered with white streaks, its dark hue was brilliant like polished obsidian. Her face was a deep beige color and her deep set black eyes mirrored Remus's look of shame; Remus noticed how similar her nose and mouth were to the man laying on the bed and when she rose to look at him he could see where Eaglefeather got his statuesque frame. She did not look at him with anger or rage, only an emotionless stare that made him uneasy but also nailed him right on the spot. She wore precious stones in a large bracelet around her wrists and her silver rings glimmered in the morning light; she held out her hand and gently caressed Remus's face. Quickly she enveloped him in her arms and began to weep, and Remus was surprised to notice that some of the tears wetting his shirt were his own as well.

When they had finished she beckoned him to sit in the chair, while she took her seat in another chair nearby; they were silent at first, the others had gone to get Remus something to eat from the hall. Finally the woman spoke,

"Do not blame yourself…He would not want you to blame yourself for what happened."

Remus looked at her and said,

"You're his mother aren't you?"

She nodded, smiling a little at him,

"My name is Dawn, Professor Dawn Eaglefeather, caretaker of Magical Creatures and professor of Shamanic studies at Salem…"

"I'm Remus…"

"I know. Your friends have been speaking your name for all the month while you were here, I suppose they were trying to make sure you remembered your name."

She smiled and when she did Remus could tell the age lines that played across her face, yet when she did not express emotion her face was clear and pure, like a young woman's. She wrung her hands and they sat in silence for a long time; Remus's eyes fell on the body lying on the bed and he made to open his mouth but another figure entering the infirmary called his attention. The click of heeled shoes and a determined gait could be heard outside; when the curtain was pulled back, Remus's eyes fell on Professor McGonagall, and when she saw Remus sitting there she did the most uncanny thing. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around him. Then very quickly she stood up dusted herself off and told him,

"Mr. Lupin, if you would please return to your bed, I must speak with Professor Eaglefeather alone."

Remus did as he was told, still in shock at the sudden display of emotion by Professor McGongall, who was generally stoic and unmoving. The rest of the day Remus rested and ate when James and the others had arrived; apparently the story around the school was that a werewolf had found its way into the school grounds and Professor Eaglefeather heroically tried to get it away from the school and the town. Remus was thought to be out of town visiting his mother, which would explain his absence at the time; the conference came to an abrupt halt and even regular Hogwart's classes were stopped. Several Hogwart's students were taken home by their parents and the students from Salem and Amarnath left back to their respective countries. Dumbledore was silent about the matter, spending most of his time in the infirmary, yet he did tell the Board of Governors that the wolf had been found and killed by the centaurs two days after that night. The ministry had aurors and other members of the Ministry of the Control of Hostile Creatures scouring the forest looking for any signs that there was a pack of werewolves and not just one. The centaurs became enraged at this intrusion into their land and forbid any wizard to walk into their part of the forest. As the month passed on, Hogwarts students slowly trickled back to the school when the Daily Prophet reported no other signs of werewolves on the grounds. Finally Remus, who had been listening intently, spoke up,

"What about…What happened to Maggie?"

Sirius and Peter looked at James, who sighed and said,

"Well, I don't rightly know but the rumor is that she's been sacked from the Ministry of Magical Cooperation. Mr. Crouch came himself when the news broke out; of course not like Dumbledore was trying to keep it quiet but it was chaos for a while, news reporters everywhere on school grounds; asking if any of the students or teachers from the other schools were the werewolf. But no one seemed to be missing from their lot and Salem and Amarnath left in a huff at all the accusations and some pointed the finger back at Dumbledore, saying that he should have enchanted the borders of the Forbidden Forest to prevent any from getting in. But when all the chaos died down, Maggie was nowhere to be seen. Helena's been gone for the whole month also …sorry I can't give you better news mate."

Remus only nodded his head and looked over at the corner of the infirmary where Professor Eaglefeather lay; he then asked,

"What about Maya and them? You only mentioned that Salem and Amarnath left…what about the others?"

Sirius then spoke at this,

"They're still here, waiting for Eaglefeather to make a recovery…He woke up before you did but he's been so wounded he is only awake for a few short spurts. He told us to watch over you…to not let you go wandering into the forest alone."

At this Remus sighed and lay back on the bed, he was quiet for a long time, which his friends took as a sign that he wanted to rest. He stayed in the infirmary for about two more weeks, the first week, his wounds were fully patched up and the second he was moved to a dark corner of the dungeons at night before the second full moon of that year rose. The students were terrified at the howls coming from the school grounds but many of the professors said it was Peeves playing a cruel joke on everyone. In fact when some students caught him howling through the halls the fear of another werewolf died down.

When Remus had fully recovered Dumbledore himself came to visit him and told him that he was to pretend he had been home with his mother the whole time and was kept there until the Ministry had completed its investigation. When he returned to the great hall everyone pretty much ignored him, the only ones who noticed his return were the students from the EMK. They looked at him with various expressions of wonder, anger, fear or pity; Maya sat among them but when he passed by, her eyes were cast down and her hair was loose hiding her face from him. The weeks passed and life slowly returned to normal; the Hogwarts classes commenced again, though the Quidditch pitch stayed closed because the EMK students were still camped out there. Remus was trying to work up the courage to visit Maya or even to visit Professor Eaglefeather in the infirmary, but he always chickened out and sent Peter or James instead to see how they were doing.

One day, as he was walking through the busy halls of Hogwarts heading to his potions class, his eyes fell on an unmoving figure atop a grand staircase that led up to the infirmary. The figure stared at the entrance way; she wore bright blue robes, her hair tied up in a braided knot with a wand sticking out of it. She held a valise in one hand and the crumpled remains of a fedora in the other; without thinking, Remus climbed the stairs and stood beside Maggie LeFear as she looked into the infirmary, a gaze of fear cemented on her face. Remus wanted to place his hand on her shoulder, but things had changed since they last spoke; she had seen what he was, what's more he had injured a dear friend of hers, if not the love of her life. He turned away from her and was about to descend the stairs when her voice echoed into his ears,

"Don't go…"

He turned back to face her and saw her trembling lips, she nodded beckoning him to come to her; when he did, she placed the valise on the floor, with the fedora resting beside it. She looked back into the infirmary and there was silence between them. When she spoke, her voice almost as quiet as a whisper,

"I…I can't go in there. Why can't I go in there?"

"I don't know…I've been asking myself the same question."

She took his hand in hers and looked into his eyes, he realized that she was much taller than him, then again she was older than he was, yet despite her adult attire she still looked like that same young girl who caught him staring at her sister.

"Perhaps we should go in together?"

The gentle lilt of her strange accent colored her words and all he did was nod; they passed through the threshold of the infirmary and slowly walked to the place where the Jaguar man's bed now lay. The wounds he had were almost fully healed, but still were open in dark red slits on his skin. The bed no longer revolved and he lay still, sleeping and drawing in heavy quiet breaths. Maggie gasped as she looked at him and her feet were very still,

"Bal…?"

, she said in a whisper tinged with a note of sorrow. As though it were by magic, his eyes flitted open and he slowly looked around him; wearily his eyes floated to where they stood and weakly his lips turned upward into a gentle handsome smile,

"I knew you would come."

She started to cry just then and turned away from him, softly dabbing her tears with a white handkerchief. Remus was left standing there as Professor Eaglefeather's amber hued eyes fell on him. Slowly he lifted his hands and motioned for him to sit on the chair; looking directly at Remus, Professor Eaglefeather spoke, his voice now a bit stronger and concerned,

"How are you?"

Remus looked down at the ground,

"I'm…I'm well…you?"

Professor Eaglefeather lightly chuckled,

"I suppose I look better than I feel, but you did not hurt me much."

"I just wanted to apologize…"

"For what? For being bitten? For the full moon? You have nothing to apologize for young man…You have nothing to fear from me. What happened was none of your doing and was out of your control."

The kind eyes of the Jaguar man fell upon him and Remus's quivering lip turned into a smile; just then Maggie came back, little bits of her mascara streaked down her cheeks but she had regained her composure. Remus got up from his seat and left them alone to talk; he looked back at them before he left and Maggie was sitting beside the bed holding Eaglefeather's hand. Remus's heart broke a little then, but then she looked up at him and gave him a warm smile and that restored him to good health.

Three weeks passed as the year began to draw slowly to a close; Professor Eaglefeather no longer needed to be under Madame Pompfrey's care and was seen in different places around the grounds, sitting on a wheelchair, teaching his classes in the open air of new spring. Hagrid was charged with taking him from place to place, mostly because he was the only person who would lift him without much difficulty. Hagrid would carry him around the grounds like a newborn and over time the two formed a fast friendship, with their interest in magical creatures and also with Professor Eaglefeather being the only one to laugh at Hagrid's jokes. Remus kept his distance from Professor Eaglefeather when he taught his classes, for several of the EMK students would still look at him with an angry fire burning in their eyes. Maggie was seen around the grounds as well, sometimes wheeling him about or talking with other professors. Remus talked to her less, not wanting to have that inevitable conversation where she would announce her undying love for Eagelfeather; Remus thought his poor heart wouldn't be able to take it.

Finally the day came when Professor Eaglefeather was well enough to travel across the ocean; the crowd to see him leave was immense, students from every corner of Hogwarts turned out to see him and his students off. James even volunteered to help him onto the Hogwarts Express; Remus stayed in the back of the crowd with Peter and Sirius, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself. Yet as he stood there, on the platform in Hogsmeade, a gentle touch fell on his shoulder; he turned and saw Maggie carrying her valise, uncustomarily wearing a pair of blue jeans and a greenish blue peasant shirt, looking her age, a mature and self-confident 19. Her hair was loose and flowed in the wind; she looked younger then than she ever had and even seemed to resemble Helena in an impish sort of way, her wand, still stuck in the folds of her hair dangling listlessly off her slightly pointed ear.

"Well R.J. I suppose this is farewell for now."

She smiled at him in a compassionate sort of way, no longer did she look at him playfully like he was a toy or an amusement. Remus frowned slightly at her valise,

"You're not staying?"

"The conference folded and I am no longer a student, I have no place here…not anymore."

"What will you do?"

, asked Sirius who had butted himself into their conversation, Maggie smiled at him and said,

"I don't know…But don't worry about me lads, I'll land on my feet."

She motioned for Remus to speak with her a little ways away; they walked to the back of the train, where no one could hear them. She looked at him for a little bit and then said,

"I am sorry for…for injuring you like I did. I did not know…"

"Why are you apologizing? It should be me… I'm a monster."

She placed her hand gingerly upon his cheek,

"Never say that! People are born as both saints and monsters. Monsters are those people who do evil deeds and feel no guilt for what they have done. Saints are those that feel sorrow for causing any amount of pain, even if they had no control over it…you are the latter."

She bent down and placed a light kiss on his cheek,

"Au revoir, Remus John Lupin."

She turned from where he stood speechless and walked over to where James was helping Professor Eaglefeather board the train. They seemed deep in conversation as they climbed the stairs onto the red car; James helped the limping young man onto his seat and then awkwardly procured a small leather journal from his pocket.

"This is yours."

"So it is…Though really it belongs to my mother."

"I'm sorry I took it."

Tomas Eaglefeather looked at the youth keenly, his yellow-amber eyes piercing him through and through,

"You did not attempt it did you? The animagus transformation?"

James, turning a pinkish red hue said,

"No! Of course not…I was just curious."

"Good…terrible things have and can happen to those who attempt animagi transformations without the proper guidance."

James looked pale now and sat across from Professor Eaglefeather, wringing his hands,

"Wh…what kinds of things?"

The Jaguar man furrowed his brow, before arching it and massaging his chin as he thought,

"Well…it is different each time. Sometimes the transformation is temporary yet can leave lasting marks or disabilities on a person, such as hooves or paws for feet, which last for the rest of their lives… that would be the ideal condition of course. Some may remain in a constant state of flux between their human and animal body parts and will never fully have control over it, reverting to animal and human in different emotional states. The most horrid of course is that they may exhibit no sign and it may seem as though the transformation has worked, yet slowly and gradually over time it will take much more effort and much more toil to revert back into one's human form. Until one day, unexpectedly the wizard cannot change back and is trapped within the body of his animal counterpart for the rest of his life. He cannot speak or communicate with his loved ones, nor can he find a place for himself among the wild animals of the world, being the only one with reason and the knowledge of what it is like to be human and the creature comforts that come with it. He will slowly be driven insane by the creature taking over his mind and his thoughts will become indistinguishable from those of other animals…In a word he will lose himself and his reason and will be no more…but this is a long and horrid process for it is like being eaten alive and knowing that you are being eaten, ever so slowly and ever so painfully, that one will wish for death long before the end will come…"

James stared at the shaman for a long time, his eyes wide, their green hue brightly shining and his mouth agape, with his tiny lips quivering. Professor Eaglefeather looked at him gravely the whole time he said it, his voice getting deeper and more menacing as he recounted what he knew. Then suddenly he smiled patted James on the back and said,

"It is a good thing you did not try it then, or else I would be terribly worried about you!"

James chuckled nervously and then walked out of the car in a daze; he did not even notice Maggie walking by him nor Sirius and Peter waving him to where they were. Instead his eyes fell upon where Remus stood at the back of the bus; approaching him was a lone silent figure, her dark wavy hair framing her dark olive skinned face.

"Remus?"

Maya's voice cut into him and broke off his stunned silence; when Remus turned he saw her smiling face a little nervous but still having the strong pronounced features that made her beautiful.

"Maya…I'm so sorry, about what happened. You must hate me for what I did."

Maya stepped closer to him,

"Hate you? I could not hate you…You were not in control of yourself."

"But you've been avoiding me…"

Maya looked away at where her classmates stood, watching her intently,

"I know, and I am sorry for it…They…"

She said motioning to where the students and teachers from EMK stood,

"They are not yet ready to understand, but they will, you will see. I just wanted to give you this…"

She handed him a small piece of paper, upon it was inscribed an address, she looked at him with a small nervous smile upon her lips,

"If…If you ever want to talk. Or maybe someday if you ever find yourself in Arizona…look me up eh? I'll show you how to properly ride a broom."

She leaned in and gave him a peck on his cheek; that was last he ever saw of her, as she was walking away to board the Hogwarts express. He wrote a few letters to her over the next few years but it became harder and harder to find owls or people willing to shuttle a letter across the ocean. The war would soon come to England's shores and all international travel would be suspended and international mail was confiscated by the Ministry in an attempt to prevent Voldemort's influence from spreading overseas. He often wondered what had become of her, yet never did he forget that first kiss in his dormitory, or the lessons she taught him. The rest of that year passed by with little spoken about that short but powerful experience of meeting people from far off lands; James was just happy that the Quidditch pitch was now open for a few short matches before the end of term. Helena did not come back by the end of the year and Remus found himself wondering what could have happened. Because she had disappeared, a cruel rumor began to spread throughout the student body that the reason she never returned was because she was the werewolf that killed the centaur colt. That perhaps hurt Remus more, that Helena was accused of committing the atrocities that he committed that night; he wanted to correct them to come out and say that it wasn't true, but then he would have had to explain why it wasn't true. So he took James and Sirius's advice and kept shut about it; the story of Half-wit Helen the Hairy werewolf circulated around school as a joke, yet Lily and the other sisters of mercy, not to mention a few words by James were able to put that rumor to bed. When the school year ended and Remus was once again on board the Hogwart's Express, heading back to London, life had returned to normal. The train pulled into Platform 9 ¾ and Remus caught sight of his mother waiting in the fog and steam let out by the train; she ran to him and held him in her arms so strongly he had to catch his breath. She whispered in his ear,

"I was so worried about you…I would have come but Dumbldore said I shouldn't, would have caused rumors to spring up."

Remus nodded saying silently,

"Don't worry mum…I was alright."

She smiled as tears began to flow down her eyes, wiping them away with a tattered old cloth she stood and took his bags, leading him to the other side of the platform, on the Muggle side of the station. Unlike James or Sirius, Remus could not afford his own form of transportation so he and his mother boarded a Muggle train that headed out to their home in Essex. She would not take her eyes off of him but he didn't mind; his mother was the one constant in his life that he never had to prove himself to and he felt at home again after what seemed like an entire lifetime away.


End file.
